Spanish 2 Quiz: Asking For And Giving Directions
9 questions · exam conditions
0:00
Asking For And Giving DirectionsQuestion 1 of 9

Un turista le pregunta a María: '¿Puede usted decirme dónde está el banco?' María quiere responder de manera formal y correcta: 'El banco está   la farmacia y   la esquina.' ¿Qué par de preposiciones o expresiones de lugar completa mejor la oración de forma gramaticalmente correcta y con sentido lógico?

'entre' y 'a' — El banco está entre la farmacia y a la esquina.
'detrás de' y 'lejos de' — El banco está detrás de la farmacia y lejos de la esquina.
'al lado de' y 'cerca de' — El banco está al lado de la farmacia y cerca de la esquina.
'enfrente de' y 'dentro de' — El banco está enfrente de la farmacia y dentro de la esquina.
← Back to quizzes

Spanish 2 Quiz

Spanish 2 Quiz: Asking For And Giving Directions

Practice Asking For And Giving Directions in Spanish 2 with focused quiz questions that help you check what you know, review explanations, and build confidence with test-style prompts.

What this quiz covers

This quiz focuses on Asking For And Giving Directions, giving you a quick way to practice the rules, question types, and explanations that matter most for Spanish 2.

How to use this quiz

Try each quiz question before looking at the correct answer. Use the explanations to review missed ideas, then come back to similar questions until the pattern feels familiar.

All questions

Question 1

Un turista le pregunta a María: '¿Puede usted decirme dónde está el banco?' María quiere responder de manera formal y correcta: 'El banco está   la farmacia y   la esquina.' ¿Qué par de preposiciones o expresiones de lugar completa mejor la oración de forma gramaticalmente correcta y con sentido lógico?

  1. 'entre' y 'a' — El banco está entre la farmacia y a la esquina.
  2. 'detrás de' y 'lejos de' — El banco está detrás de la farmacia y lejos de la esquina.
  3. 'al lado de' y 'cerca de' — El banco está al lado de la farmacia y cerca de la esquina. (correct answer)
  4. 'enfrente de' y 'dentro de' — El banco está enfrente de la farmacia y dentro de la esquina.
Explanation: When giving directions in Spanish, you need prepositions and location phrases that are both grammatically correct and logically coherent together. This question tests whether you can identify phrases that make practical sense when describing a bank's location to a tourist. The phrase "al lado de" means "next to" or "beside," and "cerca de" means "near" or "close to." Together, they paint a clear, realistic picture: the bank is beside the pharmacy and near the corner — exactly the kind of directions a helpful person would give. Both phrases are grammatically complete (they include the required "de" before a noun), and they complement each other logically. Choice C is your answer. Choice A fails on two levels. "Entre" (between) requires two reference points — you'd say "entre la farmacia y el correo," not "entre la farmacia y a la esquina." Mixing "entre" with "a" here creates a grammatically broken sentence. Choice B uses "detrás de" (behind) and "lejos de" (far from), which are grammatically correct phrases on their own, but they make poor directions. Telling a tourist the bank is "behind the pharmacy and far from the corner" is unhelpful and oddly contradictory in context. Choice D pairs "enfrente de" (in front of/across from) with "dentro de" (inside of). While "enfrente de la farmacia" is perfectly fine, saying something is "dentro de la esquina" — inside a corner — is physically impossible and nonsensical. Study tip: For Spanish location phrases, always check two things: does the preposition need "de" before a noun, and does the combination actually make logical sense? Both grammar and meaning must work together.

Question 2

Sofía necesita ir de su casa a la biblioteca. Su vecino le da estas instrucciones: 'Sal de tu casa y camina hacia el norte. En la primera calle, dobla a la derecha. Sigue hasta la segunda intersección y gira a la izquierda. La biblioteca está al final de esa calle, a mano derecha.'

Sofía sigue exactamente las instrucciones pero llega a un edificio que no es la biblioteca. Cuando le cuenta al vecino, él se da cuenta de que dijo 'segunda intersección' cuando debía haber dicho 'primera intersección'. ¿En qué punto exacto de las instrucciones debería haber girado Sofía a la izquierda para llegar correctamente a la biblioteca?

  1. Debería haber girado a la izquierda justo después de salir de su casa, antes de llegar a la primera calle hacia el norte.
  2. Debería haber girado a la izquierda al final de la calle donde ya estaba, después de pasar la primera intersección en esa misma dirección.
  3. Debería haber girado a la izquierda en la segunda calle al norte, antes de doblar a la derecha, cambiando el orden de los giros.
  4. Debería haber girado a la izquierda en la primera intersección después de haber doblado a la derecha, sin seguir hasta la segunda. (correct answer)
Explanation: When a question asks you to trace a sequence of directions and find where an error occurred, the best strategy is to mentally "walk" through the instructions step by step, then identify exactly which step needs to change. Here's how to trace Sofía's correct route: She starts by walking north, then turns right at the first street (so now she's heading east). According to the corrected instructions, she should have turned left at the first intersection she encounters while heading east — not the second. Turning left there would redirect her north again, and the library would be at the end of that street on the right. That logic points directly to D: she should have turned left at the first intersection after her right turn, not continuing to the second one. Now let's rule out the wrong choices. A suggests she should have turned left immediately after leaving her house, before even reaching the first north-south street — that contradicts the instructions entirely, which tell her to walk north first, then turn right. B describes turning left at the end of a street after passing the first intersection, which doesn't match any corrected step and misreads the structure of the directions. C suggests she should have turned left before turning right, reversing the order of the two turns — but the corrected instructions only change which intersection she turns left at, not the sequence of left vs. right. As a study tip: when direction questions involve an error correction, isolate the one changed detail and re-trace only from that point forward — don't second-guess the steps that were already correct.

Question 3

Estás en el centro de la ciudad y le preguntas a un señor cómo llegar al museo. Él te dice: 'Siga derecho por esta calle dos cuadras, doble a la izquierda en la avenida Principal, cruce el parque que está a su derecha, y el museo queda justo enfrente de la fuente.'

Siguiendo las instrucciones del señor al pie de la letra, ¿cuál es el orden correcto de las acciones que debes realizar para llegar al museo?

  1. Doblar a la izquierda, seguir derecho dos cuadras, cruzar el parque, buscar la fuente enfrente del museo.
  2. Seguir derecho dos cuadras, doblar a la izquierda, cruzar el parque que está a la derecha, y llegar al museo que está frente a la fuente. (correct answer)
  3. Seguir derecho dos cuadras, doblar a la derecha en la avenida Principal, cruzar el parque, y llegar al museo frente a la fuente.
  4. Cruzar el parque primero, luego seguir derecho dos cuadras, doblar a la izquierda, y buscar el museo cerca de la fuente.
Explanation: When following directions in Spanish, sequence matters enormously — and this question tests whether you can track the exact order of steps as described in the passage. Treat it like a map you're mentally walking through, step by step. The señor gives four instructions in this precise order: (1) Siga derecho por esta calle dos cuadras — go straight two blocks; (2) doble a la izquierda en la avenida Principal — turn left on Avenida Principal; (3) cruce el parque que está a su derecha — cross the park on your right; (4) the museum is justo enfrente de la fuente — right in front of the fountain. Option B mirrors this sequence perfectly: straight two blocks → left turn → cross the park on the right → arrive at the museum facing the fountain. That's your correct answer. A is wrong because it reverses the first two steps — you can't turn left before going straight. C contains a critical directional error: it says to turn right on Avenida Principal, but the señor clearly said izquierda (left). Confusing izquierda and derecha is one of the most common traps in Spanish directions questions — watch for it. D scrambles the order completely by starting with crossing the park, which is actually the third step. A useful strategy: when reading Spanish directions passages, underline or mentally number each action verb (siga, doble, cruce) in the order they appear. The correct answer will match that sequence exactly — any reversal or substitution of direction words (izquierda/derecha) is an automatic disqualifier.

Question 4

Lee el siguiente intercambio entre dos personas:

Viajero: 'Perdón, ¿me puede decir cómo llegar a la estación de tren desde aquí?' Local: 'Claro.   esta calle hasta el semáforo, luego   a la derecha y   dos cuadras más. La estación está a su izquierda.'

¿Qué conjunto de formas verbales en el modo imperativo formal (usted) completa correctamente las instrucciones del local?

  1. 'Siga / doble / camine' — imperativo formal (usted) de seguir, doblar y caminar. (correct answer)
  2. 'Sigue / dobla / camina' — imperativo informal (tú) de seguir, doblar y caminar.
  3. 'Seguir / doblar / caminar' — infinitivos de seguir, doblar y caminar.
  4. 'Siga / gira / camine' — imperativo formal de seguir y caminar, pero imperativo informal de girar.
Explanation: When giving directions in Spanish, pay attention to who is being addressed. In formal situations — like a stranger asking for help — Spanish speakers use the usted (formal) imperative. The local is speaking to an unknown traveler, so formal commands are required throughout the entire set of instructions. To form the usted imperative, take the yo form of the present tense, drop the -o, and add the opposite vowel ending: -AR verbs get -e, and -ER/-IR verbs get -a. So: seguir → sigo → siga; doblar → doblo → doble; caminar → camino → camine. This perfectly matches choice A, which consistently uses formal commands across all three blanks — making it the correct answer. Choice B (sigue / dobla / camina) uses tú (informal) imperative forms, which are inappropriate when addressing a stranger. This is a common trap: students familiar with tú commands may default to them without considering register. Choice C (seguir / doblar / caminar) lists bare infinitives, which are not commands at all — they're the dictionary forms of the verbs and cannot function as instructions on their own. Choice D mixes registers incorrectly: siga and camine are proper usted imperatives, but gira is the tú form of girar, creating an inconsistent and grammatically problematic mix. A useful tip: whenever you see a direction-giving scenario with strangers or in professional contexts, mentally flag it as formal register and verify that every verb in the sentence uses usted commands — consistency across all verbs is key.

Question 5

Marta está frente a la biblioteca. La oficina de correos está a tres cuadras al norte. El supermercado está a una cuadra al este de la oficina de correos. El hospital está a dos cuadras al oeste de la biblioteca.

Si Marta quiere ir primero al hospital y luego al supermercado tomando el camino más lógico y directo desde el hospital, ¿qué instrucciones representan mejor esa ruta desde el hospital hasta el supermercado?

  1. Desde el hospital, camine tres cuadras al este hasta la biblioteca, luego siga tres cuadras al norte hasta la oficina de correos y una al este hasta el supermercado.
  2. Desde el hospital, siga dos cuadras al este hasta la biblioteca, camine tres cuadras al norte hasta la oficina de correos, y luego una cuadra al este hasta el supermercado. (correct answer)
  3. Desde el hospital, camine dos cuadras al norte, luego tres cuadras al este, y doble al sur una cuadra para llegar al supermercado.
  4. Desde el hospital, regrese dos cuadras al este hasta la biblioteca, siga tres cuadras al norte hasta la oficina de correos y doble una cuadra al oeste para llegar al supermercado.
Explanation: When a question gives you a series of location clues, your first job is to build a mental map before reading the answer choices. Place each landmark on an invisible grid using the directional relationships provided. Here's what the passage tells you: Marta starts at the library (your reference point). The post office is 3 blocks north of the library. The supermarket is 1 block east of the post office. The hospital is 2 blocks west of the library. Plot those out and you have a clear spatial picture. Now trace the route from the hospital to the supermarket. The hospital sits 2 blocks west of the library, so walking 2 blocks east brings you back to the library. From there, heading 3 blocks north reaches the post office. Finally, 1 block east lands you at the supermarket. That's exactly what B describes — it's the most direct, logical path following the coordinates the passage establishes. A is wrong because it says "three cuadras al este" from the hospital to the library — but the hospital is only 2 blocks west of the library, not three. That single error makes the whole route geographically impossible. C invents a path going north first, then east, then south — a direction never supported by the passage. No landmark is placed south of any route point, so "doblar al sur" leads nowhere meaningful. D correctly gets you back to the library and up to the post office, but then sends you one block west — which takes you away from the supermarket, not toward it. When working these map problems, always sketch the grid before evaluating routes. Small directional errors in the distractors are easy to miss if you're reading without a visual anchor.

Question 6

Un estudiante quiere pedirle direcciones a un policía en la calle de manera apropiada y cortés en español. ¿Cuál de las siguientes opciones representa la forma más completa, correcta y apropiada para iniciar esa petición en un contexto formal?

  1. '¡Oye! ¿Sabes dónde está el centro comercial? Necesito ir allá rápido y no sé cómo llegar desde esta esquina.'
  2. 'Disculpe, señor agente, ¿me podría indicar cómo llegar al centro comercial desde aquí, por favor?' (correct answer)
  3. 'Perdona, ¿tú puedes decirme dónde queda el centro comercial? Es que estoy muy perdido y no entiendo bien.'
  4. 'Señor, dígame dónde está el centro comercial porque no sé nada de esta ciudad y necesito encontrarlo urgentemente.'
Explanation: When asking for directions in a formal context in Spanish, you need to consider three elements working together: register (formal vs. informal), courtesy markers (polite phrases and titles), and sentence construction (using conditional or softened verb forms to sound respectful rather than demanding). Option B is the strongest choice because it hits every mark. It opens with "Disculpe" (formal excuse me), uses the respectful title "señor agente," employs the conditional "¿me podría indicar...?" (could you indicate for me?) to soften the request, and closes with "por favor." This layered politeness is exactly what a formal interaction with an authority figure requires. Option A fails immediately with "¡Oye!" — this is casual slang equivalent to "Hey!" in English, completely inappropriate for addressing a police officer. The sentence also uses "sabes" (informal tú form), compounding the register problem. Option C uses "Perdona" and "tú puedes," both informal tú conjugations. While "perdona" works among friends, the correct formal equivalent is "perdone" or "disculpe." Speaking to a stranger in authority using tú comes across as disrespectful in most Spanish-speaking contexts. Option D uses "usted" implied through "dígame" (command form), which is technically formal, but the structure is blunt and demanding — there's no courtesy opener, no softening, and no "por favor." Politeness isn't just about grammar; it's also about tone. Study tip: In formal Spanish interactions, remember the formula — disculpe + title + conditional verb + por favor. If any piece is missing or replaced with an informal equivalent, the register breaks down.

Question 7

Ana le da las siguientes instrucciones a su amiga por teléfono: 'Cuando salgas del metro, queda enfrente de ti una plaza grande. Cruza la plaza y sigue por la calle que está a tu izquierda. Después de pasar dos semáforos, mi apartamento está en el edificio rojo que queda a la derecha, justo después de la panadería.'

La amiga de Ana sale del metro y cruza la plaza correctamente. Sin embargo, cuando llega a la calle a su izquierda, confunde su izquierda con la derecha y dobla en la dirección equivocada. ¿Cuál de las siguientes opciones describe mejor el resultado de este error y cómo podría corregirlo?

  1. La amiga llegará igualmente al edificio rojo porque en muchas ciudades las calles son paralelas y simétricas; solo tardará un poco más.
  2. La amiga está en la calle correcta pero en el sentido contrario; solo necesita caminar hasta pasar dos semáforos y el edificio rojo estará a su izquierda en vez de a la derecha.
  3. La amiga debe seguir caminando en la dirección equivocada hasta encontrar otro semáforo y luego doblar dos veces a la izquierda para compensar el error inicial.
  4. La amiga irá en dirección opuesta a la correcta; debe regresar a la plaza, reorientarse y tomar la calle que queda a su izquierda al salir de la plaza hacia la calle. (correct answer)
Explanation: Questions like this test your ability to carefully follow spatial directions in Spanish and reason through what happens when a step goes wrong. When navigating instructions, each action builds on the previous one — a mistake early in the sequence compounds everything that follows. Here, Ana's friend correctly exits the metro and crosses the plaza. The critical error happens at the next step: instead of turning onto the street to her izquierda (left), she accidentally turns right. This means she is now on an entirely different street than the one Ana described — not simply traveling in the wrong direction on the correct street. Because she never took the correct street at all, she must go back to the starting point of that decision: the plaza. From there, she can reorient herself and take the street that is truly to her left. This makes D the correct answer — she needs to return to the plaza and correct her turn. A is tempting if you assume urban grids are always symmetrical, but the instructions are specific to one street with particular landmarks, so a parallel street would not have the same panadería and edificio rojo in the same positions. B incorrectly assumes she is on the right street going the wrong way — but she turned onto the wrong street entirely, not the correct one in reverse. C invents a correction strategy (turning twice) that has no basis in the original instructions and would likely get her even more lost. A useful strategy: when following directional passages, mentally "walk through" each step in order. If a character makes an error, ask yourself at which step the path diverged, and trace back to exactly that point.

Question 8

Lee este breve diálogo:

Turista: 'Perdone, ¿está lejos el aeropuerto de aquí?' Habitante: 'No, no está muy lejos.   el autobús número 12 en esa parada,   en la terminal central y luego   las indicaciones hacia la salida internacional.'

¿Qué conjunto de verbos en el imperativo formal (usted) completa el consejo del habitante de manera gramaticalmente correcta y semánticamente coherente con el contexto de dar instrucciones de transporte?

  1. 'Tome / bájese / siga' — imperativo formal (usted) de tomar, bajarse y seguir. (correct answer)
  2. 'Toma / bájate / sigue' — imperativo informal (tú) de tomar, bajarse y seguir.
  3. 'Tome / se baja / siga' — mezcla del imperativo formal con el presente de indicativo reflexivo.
  4. 'Tomar / bajarse / seguir' — infinitivos de tomar, bajarse y seguir.
Explanation: When giving formal instructions or directions in Spanish — as you would to a stranger, a customer, or anyone you'd address as usted — you must use the formal imperative consistently throughout. In a travel dialogue like this one, the habitante is speaking to an unknown tourist, so every verb in the advice must match the formal register. The formal imperative (usted) for these three verbs is: tomar → tome, bajarse → bájese, and seguir → siga. These forms are built from the yo-form of the present indicative, then switched to the opposite vowel ending (-ar verbs get -e, -er/-ir verbs get -a). Together they create a grammatically consistent and contextually logical set of transport instructions: take the bus, get off at the terminal, then follow the signs. This makes A the correct answer. B is wrong because toma, bájate, and sigue are all informal (tú) imperatives — appropriate for friends or children, but inappropriate when addressing a stranger tourist. C mixes registers incorrectly: tome and siga are formal imperatives, but se baja is the present indicative, not an imperative at all — it describes an action rather than commanding one. This kind of mixing creates grammatical inconsistency. D uses infinitives (tomar, bajarse, seguir), which cannot replace conjugated imperatives in proper instruction-giving, even though infinitives are sometimes used informally in written signs. A quick study tip: whenever you see a dialogue with a stranger or authority figure in Spanish, immediately ask yourself — usted or tú? Then apply that register to every verb in the sentence, not just the first one.

Question 9

¿Cuál de las siguientes instrucciones usa el imperativo negativo formal (usted) de manera correcta para indicarle a alguien que NO doble a la izquierda en la próxima esquina?

  1. 'No dobla a la izquierda en la próxima esquina.' — tercera persona singular del presente de indicativo con negación.
  2. 'No dobles a la izquierda en la próxima esquina.' — segunda persona singular del imperativo negativo con negación.
  3. 'No doble a la izquierda en la próxima esquina.' — tercera persona singular del presente de subjuntivo con negación. (correct answer)
  4. 'No doblar a la izquierda en la próxima esquina.' — infinitivo del verbo doblar con negación.
Explanation: When giving formal commands in Spanish — telling someone to do or not do something using usted — you need to understand a key grammatical pattern: the formal imperative borrows its forms from the present subjunctive, not the regular indicative. Here's the logic: for -ar verbs like doblar, the present subjunctive uses an -e ending in the third person singular (doble). This same form is used for both affirmative and negative formal commands. So "No doble a la izquierda en la próxima esquina" is the correct way to formally tell someone not to turn left — making C the correct answer. The label in option C accurately identifies this as the present subjunctive with negation, which is exactly how formal commands work. Now let's look at the traps. Option A uses "dobla," which is the regular present indicative — that's a statement of fact ("she doesn't turn left"), not a command. Adding no doesn't make it a command; it just negates the statement. Option B uses "dobles," which is the tú (informal) negative imperative — correct structure, but wrong register. If you're using usted, you need the formal form, not the familiar one. Option D uses the infinitive "doblar," which is grammatically not a command at all in this context — infinitives can appear on posted signs, but they don't work as personal commands directed at a specific person with usted. A useful memory trick: for formal commands (usted/ustedes), always flip the vowel — -ar verbs get -e, and -er/-ir verbs get -a. This applies to both affirmative and negative formal commands equally.