ANDAR, CAMINAR, PASEAR...

When someone says: Voy a dar un paseo, voy a caminar, voy a pasear…. They all translate to English as I’m going to walk, I’m going for a walk. It doesn’t really matter the one you use, because the differences are subtle. But, if you really want to know, here a little explanation below:

·         Andar is to walk, centred around the action of walking. It comes from Latin ambular.

Fui a casa andando “I went home walking”

·         Caminar is to walk, but centred around the place you are walking. It comes from the Spanish noun camino meaning “path”, which explains why it has a connotation more centred around the path.

Caminamos todas las noches por allí “we walk every night around there”

·         Pasear is to stroll, to walk for the pleasure of walking. It comes from the Spanish noun paso “step or pace”.

Solían salir a pasear “they used to go out for a walk”

·         Recorrer is to walk along a certain path, to follow a path or an extension walking. Recorrer comes from correr which means “to race or to run" and the Latin prefix re- which sometimes means “again” or sometimes is added to give the verb another connotation.

Recorrí el camino del colegio a casa “I walked along the path from school to home”