Abstract  This article aims at formal specifications of reference systems in spatial cognition. It concentrates on two roles of reference systems connected to spatial language: reference systems resolving ambiguities and reference systems forming a basis for the classification of linguistic terms. Although coordinate systems are often seen as candidates for the geometric structure of reference systems, it is shown here that they do not appear in the explanations that go into the details. An analysis of the German terms vor, hinter, rechts and links (in front of, in back of, right, left) presents an alternative model for the geometric structure of spatial reference systems.