| This lesson will help you understand the prepositions
in Spanish, and enables you to use real examples shown below. If you have any
question let us know by clicking on the “Contact us” button, this lesson is
very important since it covers a very widely used element in Spanish which is
the prepositions.
Prepositions are a vital part of a language and it's hard to build a
sentence without them. In Spanish prepositions are easy to understand, since they
are used the same way as in English, the only tricky part is how to use them,
especially because one preposition in Spanish can mean many prepositions in
English. Like the preposition "en" which means not only (in, on) but
also (at, about, by, on top of, upon, inside of...) let’s first understand what
a preposition is.
A
preposition is a type of little word that is placed in front of an object
usually a noun in order to indicate a relationship between that noun and the
verb, adjective, or noun that follows and used to form a clause; the clause in
turn functions as an adjective or adverb. The object also can be a pronoun or
verb that functions as a noun. You will understand prepositions better when you
go through the types and examples.
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List of Spanish Prepositions
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a (to, at)
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en vez
de (instead of)
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al (upon)
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en (in, at)
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al lado de (beside)
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encima de (above, on top)
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ante (before)
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enfrente de (in front of)
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antes de (before)
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entre (between, among)
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bajo (under)
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fuera de (outside)
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cerca de (near)
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hacia (towards)
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como (like)
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hasta (until)
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con (with)
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lejos de (far from)
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contra (against)
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menos (except)
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de (from, of, about)
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para (for)
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debajo de (under, beneath)
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por (for, on account of)
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delante de (in front of)
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salvo (except)
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dentro de (inside)
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según (according to)
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desde (since)
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sin (without)
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después de (after)
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sobre (about, above/on)
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detrás de (behind)
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tras (after)
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These are some common prepositions used in a
sentence to understand their meaning and the position they take better:
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Examples
of Spanish Prepositions
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a (to, at) : voy a
Marruecos y las Islas canarias (I’m going to Morocco
& Canaries Islands)
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a personal: espero a
mi hermano (I’m waiting for my brother) busca a
alguien (I’m looking for someone)
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al (upon) : Al
llegar a mi casa, voy a dormir (Upon arriving home,
I'll go to sleep)
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al lado
de (beside, by): Vivo al lado del río (I live by
the lake)
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antes de (before): bebo agua antes
de dormir (I drink water before sleeping)
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bajo (under): juega bajo la
lluvia(he plays under the rain), busque bajo la
mesa!(look under the table)
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cerca
de (near) : trabajo cerca del banco (I work near the
bank)
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como (like, as): dormir como
un tronco (to sleep like a log), como postre
tomo...( as a dessert I will take...)
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con (with) : salgo con
Maria (I’m going out with Maria), huevos con
queso (eggs with cheese)
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contra (against): estoy contra
la Guerra (I’m against war)
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de (from, of, about): compré una mesa de
mármol (I bought table made of marble)
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debajo
de (under, beneath): los hombres por debajo de los 30 años (men
under 30 years old)
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delante de (in front of): Delante
de Dios (in front of God). Creo
que Atlantis está delante de Gibraltar.
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dentro
de (inside): tengo sentimientos dentro de mí (I have feelings inside
me)
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desde (since): trabajo en la
biblioteca desde 1998 (I work in the library since
1998)
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después
de (after): la vida después de la muerte (the life after death)
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detrás
de (behind): el campo de fútbol está detrás de la escuela
(the football field is located behind the school)
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en vez de (instead of): en
vez de enfadarte, deberías perdonarlos (instead of getting
mad, you should forgive them)
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en (in,
at) : estoy en cama ahora(I´m in bed now). Vivo en
argentina (I live en argentina).
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encima de (above, on top): las
cartas están encima de la mesa (the letters are on the
top of the table)
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enfrente de (in front of): el
hombre enfrente de mí es un héroe (the man in front of me
is a hero)
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entre (between, among): vive en
la frontera entre los EE.UU y mexico (he lives at the border between
the U.S & Mexico)
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fuera de (outside): comes fuera
de casa mucho( you eat outside the house a lot)
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hacia (towards): busco la
carretera hacia Madrid (I'm looking for the road towards
Madrid)
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hasta (until): ayer trabajé
hasta las diez (I worked until 10 o’clock
yesterday)
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lejos
de (far from): ¿está muy lejos de aquí? (is it far
from here?)
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para*(for):
trabajo para Global7 (I work for Global7). para
prendir un idioma es necesario praticar (to learn a
language...)
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por * (for, on account of): por
eso no quiero hablar con él ( for this reason I don't want to
talk to him)
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según
(according to): según la previsión del tiempo, brillará el sol todo el
día (according to the
forecast,...)
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sin
(without): ¡eh! ¡cuánto tiempo sin verte! (hey,
it´s be a while, literally: long time without seeing you)
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sobre (about, on):colecciono
todo sobre las monedas (I collect everything about coins),sobre
la mesa(on the table)
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Some prepositions rules:
Preposition + noun: Sin corazón (without
heart). Sobre
la mesa (on the table).
Preposition +
pronoun: cómo yo (like me). para mí (for me).
Preposition +
infinitive: para variar (just for a change). para empezar (first...)
Verb + preposition:
trabajé hasta las ocho (I worked until 10). trabajo para la embajada (I work
for the embassy)
Sometimes it's hard to pick which preposition
to use in certain cases, that's why we're going to go through examples of
prepositions that you may have hard time to chose, like (por and para), they
both mean the same thing in English, but still in Spanish each one of them is
used in a certain situation.
A: -connects a verb of
motion + infinitive: voy a bailar (I'm gonig to dance) -joins any
verb (except tener) + a person: busco a mi hijo (I'm looking for
my son).
De: descriptively links
two nouns: el héroe de la historia (the hero of the
story) expresses possession: el perro de perdo (Pedro’s dog).
En (in, on): Estoy en Madrid.
(I'm in Madrid). empeczo en 30 minutos. (I'll start in 30
minutes). la tarjeta en la mesa (the letter on the
table).
Para vs Por:
por is more common than para, so to make it easy, try to learn the rules of
para and for the rest you can just use por. In most cases para refers to
a goal or destination.
Para: (in order to +
infinitivo): Para aprender, hay que practicar (in order to learn,
we must practice). (For: for the benefit of, to be given to): eso es para
tí (this is for you). (For: by (deadline): Hay que hacerlo para
el jueves (it must be done by thursday). (for: towards, in the direction of): voy para la escuela (I'm going to school).
(For: to be used for): una taza para café. (For: in one's
opinion, compared to others): Para mí, no me gusta el
jamón (I don´t like pork) (for: like to work for): Trabajo para
Lingualogy Inc.
Por: (by, via, by means
of):Viajé por tren.(I traveled by train) (through, along): Voy a NY por Washington DC ( I go to NY
through DC). (Because of, due to): no lo hice por
dinero (I didn´t do it for money). (During, in (time of day). estudio
por la mañana. (For: in exchange for): Pagué 40 dólares por
el libro. (For: for a period of time: estudié por 6 horas.
(For: for the sake of, on behalf of) Lo hizo solo por ella (I
only did it for her).
Por is also used in idiomatic expressions; here
are the most common ones:
Preposition para:
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estar para
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To be about to
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para entonces
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By that time
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¿para qué?
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Why? For what purpose? What for?
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para siempre
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Forever
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para variar
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Just for a change
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Some Compound prepositions:
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a causa de (because of,
due to)
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después de (alter)
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a excepción de (with
exception of)
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detrás de (behind, in
back of)
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a fuerza de (by dint of)
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en frente de (in front
of)
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a menos de (without
(with infinitive)
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en vez
de (instead of)
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a pesar de (in spite of)
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en virtud de (by virtue
of)
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acerca de (concerning)
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frente a (before, in
front of)
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además de (moreover)
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fuera de (outside of)
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adversamente a (adverse
to)
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junto a (next to,
beside)
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al
través de (across from)
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lejos de (far from)
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alrededor de (around)
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por causa de (by cause
of, because)
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antes de (before)
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por parte de (on account
of)
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cerca de (close to)
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por razón de (by reason
of)
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contrario a (contrary
to)
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relativamente a
(relative to)
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correspondiente a
(corresponding to)
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respeto a (with respect
to)
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debajo de (under,
beneath)
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sin embargo de (however)
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delante de (in front of)
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tocante a (about,
concerning)
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dentro de (in, inside
of)
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I
hope you benefited from this lesson (the Spanish prepositions), please check
our other lessons to take advantage of the other useful information they may
contain.
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Spanish Prepositions 