The Everything Spanish Grammar Book: All The Rules You Need To Master Espanol (Everything®) (29 page)

From, Of, About, and So On

The preposition
de
is generally translated as either “from” or “of,” depending on context. Often
de
is used to express ownership. In fact, it replaces the English construction “’s” to show possession:

Esta casa es de los Marín.

That house is the Marin family’s.

El cabello de Trina es largo y rubio.

Trina’s hair is long and blond.

FACT

The preposition
de
can also be used as the direct equivalent of “of”:

Dame un pedazo de pan, por favor.

Give me a piece of bread, please.

“Colombiano” es un adjetivo de nacionalidad.

“Colombian” is an adjective of nationality.

Another way to apply
de
is to mean “made of”:

La sopa de frijoles está rica.

The bean soup is delicious.

Mi esposo me regaló un collar de oro.

My husband gave me a gold necklace.

The preposition
de
can also mean “from,” when indicating someone’s origin or the motion “from” place to place:

Nací en Guatemala. Soy de Guatemala. Soy guatemalteca.

I was born in Guatemala. I am from Guatemala. I am Guatemalan.

Venimos de la oficina del Doctor Fernández.

We’re coming from Dr. Fernández’s office.

And you can also use
de
in the sense of “about”:

Yo sé muy poco de la poesía.

I know very little about poetry.

Es la historia de cómo nos conocimos.

It’s the story of (about) how we met.

At, In, On, and More

The preposition
en
is generally equivalent to “in,” but it may also be translated as “on” or “at”:

Se reunieron en la casa de Pedro.

They gathered at Pedro’s house.

Me gusta pasear en el parque.

I like to take walks in the park.

Los niños juegan en la playa.

The kids are playing on the beach.

En
is not used to mean “in” in the sense of “inside.” For that, use
dentro de:

Mis padres están dentro de la casa.

My parents are inside the house.

And if you want to say “on” in the sense of “on top of,” use
sobre:

Pon los libros sobre la mesa.

Put the books on the table.

You can also use
en
to mean “by” or “via” (a means by which something is done):

Viajaremos a la Florida en coche.

We’ll travel to Florida by car.

With and Without

In Spanish, the preposition equivalent to “with” is
con:

Prefiero café con leche y dos cucharitas de azúcar.

I prefer my coffee with milk and two teaspoons of sugar.

Tengo ganas de visitar España con mi novio.

I would like to visit Spain with my boyfriend.

ESSENTIAL

Con
may also be used to mean “in spite of” or “despite”:

Con todos los errores, saqué buena nota en la prueba.

Despite the mistakes, I received a good grade on the quiz.

The opposite of “with” is “without.” In Spanish, the equivalent preposition is
sin:

Ellos viven sin problema.

They live without problems.

Estoy aquí sin Flora porque ella está enferma.

I’m here without Flora because she is ill.

You can also use
sin
to introduce an infinitive verb:

Ella baila sin parar.

She dances non-stop (without stopping).

Por
and
Para

A pair of prepositions that are often misused by students of Spanish,
por
and
para
have similar meanings:
para
may be translated in different contexts as “for,” “by,” “to,” or even “in”;
por
may also mean “in” or “for,” or it could mean “on,” “through,” or “around.”

You can use the following rule of thumb to distinguish between the two:
Para
most often means “for”: for a cause, for (to) a destination, for someone. And you can think of
por
as “by” or “via”—it’s a preposition that describes the way or the instrument by which something was accomplished: by bus, through the woods, in return for your grades.

Now, let’s compare the two prepositions:

Vamos para Madrid. Vamos por Madrid.

We’re going to Madrid. We’re going through Madrid.

In this example,
para
is used to point out the destination, whereas
por
places the travelers in the city. Compare another example:

La carta fue escrita para el gerente. La carta fue escrita por el
gerente.

The letter was written for the manager. The letter was written by the manager.

Again,
para
is a preposition that points to someone—the letter is for the manager.
Por,
on the other hand, shows by whom the action is done.

Here are other examples of how
para
can be used:

Para mí, no significa nada.

For me, it doesn’t mean anything.

Para un cómico, no es tan gracioso.

For a comedian, he isn’t that funny.

Estudio para ser ingeniero.

I study to become an engineer.

Compare that to how
por
may be used:

Por el camino al cine, no encontré nada.

On the way to the movie theater, I didn’t find anything.

Vivo aquí por muchos años.

I live here for many years.

Voy a hacerlo por esta razón.

I’m going to do it for this reason.

Compré un reloj por treinta dólares.

I bought a watch for thirty dollars.

Additionally,
por
combines with other prepositions to indicate location:

Prepositions of Location

There are quite a few prepositions of location, such us “inside,” “near,” “next to,” and so on.

In Front Of

“In front of” in Spanish is
delante de:

Hay un árbol delante de la casa.

There is a tree in front of the house.

Facing, Across From

You can use
frente a
and
enfrente de
interchangeably, to mean “facing” or “across from.” Here’s an example:

La biblioteca está enfrente del restaurante chino.

The library is across from the Chinese restaurant.

Note that it these prepositions may sound like “in front of,” but that’s
delante de,
not
enfrente de
or
frente a.

Near and Close By

Cerca de
means “near,” “close by,” or “about”:

¿Qué está cerca de la casa de los Smith?

What is near the Smith family’s house?

Next To

While
cerca
gives an approximate location,
al lado de
literally means “to the side of” and is used to mean “next to”:

El jardín está al lado del río.

The garden is next to the river.

Inside and Outside

The preposition “inside of” is
dentro de
in Spanish and “outside of” is
afuera de
:

Estamos dentro del teatro.

We’re inside the theater.

Están afuera del teatro.

They are outside of the theater.

FACT

Under and Below

The English prepositions “under” and “below” are both translated as
debajo de:

Los peces nadan debajo de la superficie.

The fish swim below the surface.

Me gusta descansar debajo de los árboles.

I like to rest under the trees.

Behind

In Spanish, the preposition “behind” is
detrás de:

Creo que está detrás del escritorio.

I think it’s behind the desk.

In some cases,
detrás de
may be shortened to
tras,
such as in the expression
año tras año
(year after year).

After Something

When talking about a series of events, you can use
después
de
to mean “after”:

Voy a verte después de la clase.

I’ll see you after class.

Until or Even

The preposition
hasta
can be used to mean “until” or “even”:

Estudiaré hasta las once.

I’ll study until eleven.

Hasta la profesora no sabe la respuesta.

Not even the teacher knows the answer.

The Rest of the Gang

The rest of the prepositions don’t require quite as much explanation. Most of them only have one equivalent translation in English.

Before

Antes de
and
antes que
mean “before” when talking about time. Compare the following:

La cena terminó antes de su llegada.

Dinner ended before his arrival.

La cena terminó antes que llegara.

Dinner ended before he arrived.

As you can see,
antes de
is used before a noun
llegada
and
antes que
is used before a verb
llegara.

Against

Contra
and the longer form,
en contra de
(used in expressions that refer to taking a stand against an idea) are translated as “against”:

Yo estoy en contra de los ideas comunistas.

I am against communist ideas.

Ella está parada contra la pared.

She is standing against the wall.

A Sign of Excitement

The interjection,
la interjección,
is a part of speech that isn’t used very frequently, even though it is very expressive. Any word that is used solely to express a state of excitement or another emotion is an interjection. Common interjections in English are: Wow! No way! Sheesh! Hey, there! Huh!