Your Guide to Preposiciones (Prepositions in Spanish)
Like in any other language, prepositions in Spanish are connecting words that we use to indicate a relationship between a word (which can be a verb, noun or adjective) and a noun phrase (or noun or pronoun).
The most common list of Spanish prepositions goes as follows:
a
ante
bajo
con
contra
de
desde
durante
en
entre
hacia
hasta
mediante
para
por
según
sin
sobre
tras
versus
vía
Unfortunately, prepositions often can’t be translated literally, which tends to discourage Spanish students. However, bear in mind that prepositions are hard in any language, because, more often than not, they require a lot of memorization.
“DE” is themost used word in Spanish. Therefore, you are going to hear it and use it a lot!
“DE” preposition can have a multiplicity of meanings, such as:
Possession: La casa de mi madre = My mother’s house
Origin:Él es de Argentina = He’s from Argentina
Materials:Una silla de madera = A wooden chair
Content: Un vaso de agua = A glass of water
Matter or topic:Un libro de Historia = A History book
Time: Trabaja de nueve a cinco = He works from nine ‘till five
Period of time:De noche = At night; de niño = When he was a kid
Besides, “de” has many other uses, which can vary according to the Spanish dialect you’re speaking or hearing. Just remember: this is the most used word in the Spanish language, therefore you can easily say that it’s everywhere!
Location: Estoy en Buenos Aires = I’m in Buenos Aires
Time (month, year, decade, etc.):Months: Eso sucedió en Julio = That happened on July
Festivities:La vimos en Navidad = We saw her at Christmas
On this list, we have given you some of the most common usages. However, this preposition is also quite frequent. In consequence, there are a lot of expressions, constructions and idioms that include “en”. For example, “en persona” (“In person”) or “en un segundo” (“In a second”). Very often, you’re going to have to learn them one by one and memorize them!
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