"Eles dormem lá."

Translation: They sleep there.

[aniger]

The definition in the exercise gives the option of "over there" for "lá", so it should be correct.

[PokerManagement]

I agree

[davidalso]

My Brazilian wife agrees, too!

[Lingodingle]

Me too.

[davidalso]

So any ideas when it should be 'lá' and when it should be 'aí'?

[Danmoller]

"Aí" Points to the location of the listener.

"O gato está aí (na sua casa)". = The cat is there (at your house)

"Saia daí (de onde você está)" = Get out of there (where you are)

"Lá" points away from speaker AND listener. "Over there" is best.

"Aqui" is the location of the speaker (just to complete the scene).

[ThanKwee]

Thank you danmoller. So is there a difference between "lá" and "ali"?

[Danmoller]

"Ali" is not so far.
It's also away from both, but not far.

There are no rules to say what is far and what is not. It's about feeling.

Something that happens a lot:

A "carioca" (person from Rio de Janeiro) asks a "mineiro" (person from Minas Gerais) how to go to the station.
And the "mineiro" answers: segue por essa rua, é logo ali. (logo ali = right over there)
"Carioca" goes out walking through that street, and after what he considers very far, he starts swearing the "mineiro".

Their idea of distance a "a little" different.

[ThanKwee]

haha! Well, that's a good description. Thanks!

[KemotS]

Is "Saia dai!" the same as "Vá embora daí !" ?

[Paulenrique]

Yes, I think they are interchangeable is almost all scenarios.

[beccamakalapua]

you've got to be kidding me i just started getting the hang of the aquelas and desses

Anyone got a good link to a discussion that can help me understand when to use ali, la, etc?

[Amer.Selimovich]

Just to make it clear:

Would "Eles dormem ai" mean "They sleep there (near you)" and "Eles dormem la" mean "They sleep over there"?

[LuanCssio1]

The pronunciation of "dormem" is a little awkward here. The "o" has a more opened sound, like the 'o' in the english word "odd".