What does de cerca in Spanish mean?

What is the meaning of the word de cerca in Spanish? The article explains the full meaning, pronunciation along with bilingual examples and instructions on how to use de cerca in Spanish.

The word de cerca in Spanish means close up, see up close, study close-up, examine up close, closer, tail, be very close to, hit home, keep a close eye on. To learn more, please see the details below.

Listen to pronunciation

Meaning of the word de cerca

close up

locución adverbial (a poca distancia)

(adverb: Describes a verb, adjective, adverb, or clause--for example, "come quickly," "very rare," "happening now," "fall down.")
Los niños se acercaron a la reja para ver los monos de cerca.
The children got closer to the fence to see the monkeys close up.

see up close

(de primera mano)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")
Para admirar las maravillas de este país, tienes que conocerlo de cerca.

study close-up

locución verbal (revisar a fondo)

examine up close

locución verbal (ver con detalle)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")
Los policías examinaron de cerca la escena del crimen.
The police examined the crime scene up close.

closer

locución adverbial (más próximo)

(adjective: Describes a noun or pronoun--for example, "a tall girl," "an interesting book," "a big house.")
Necesito ver más de cerca la herida.
I need to see the injury more closely.

tail

locución verbal (hacer seguimiento)

(transitive verb: Verb taking a direct object--for example, "Say something." "She found the cat.")
El policía siguió de cerca al sospechoso.
The police tailed the suspect.

be very close to

locución verbal (tener parentesco)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")
Ana toca de cerca a Juan; son hermanos.

hit home

locución verbal (afectar directamente)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")
Cuando la violencia la tocó de cerca exigió justicia.

keep a close eye on

locución verbal (no perder de vista)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")
Debo vigilar de cerca al bebé, es muy inquieto.
I must keep a close eye on the baby; he's quite restless.

Let's learn Spanish

So now that you know more about the meaning of de cerca in Spanish, you can learn how to use them through selected examples and how to read them. And remember to learn the related words that we suggest. Our website is constantly updating with new words and new examples so you can look up the meanings of other words you don't know in Spanish.

Do you know about Spanish

Spanish (español), also known as Castilla, is a language of the Iberian-Romance group of the Romance languages, and the 4th most common language in the world according to Some sources, while others list it as a 2nd or 3rd most common language. It is the mother tongue of about 352 million people, and is spoken by 417 million people when adding its speakers as a language. sub (estimated in 1999). Spanish and Portuguese have very similar grammar and vocabulary; The number of similar vocabulary of these two languages is up to 89%. Spanish is the primary language of 20 countries around the world. It is estimated that the total number of speakers of Spanish is between 470 and 500 million, making it the second most widely spoken language in the world by number of native speakers.