Prepositions a, de

Voy a clase de español

The first three lessons of the second module are dedicated to Spanish prepositions. We will go through each preposition and describe their use cases in detail. Although, you are quite familiar with many of them, this is going to be a complex overview of what you already know, and what has been hidden from you until now.

Before we start analyzing prepositions one by one, let’s talk about what they are all about. Why do we need prepositions?

The simple answer is that we need them to connect words in a sentence. When we speak, we arrange our thoughts in such a way, that all words are related to each other. This relation can be achieved by a word order, by different word forms and by prepositions.

Estoy en casa – I’m at home

The en preposition lets us understand that the person is inside the building

Voy a casa – I go home

The a preposition tells that the person is heading towards the building

Escribo a Miguel – I write to Miguel

Here the a preposition indicates who the action is directed to

La bicicleta de Maria – Maria’s bicycle

The de preposition here lets us know who the bicycle belongs to

Prepositions are part of the language tradition. Sometimes their presence in a sentence is quite obvious, sometimes not. Let’s begin to explore them deeper.

Preposition a

A is one of the most widely used Spanish prepositions. It can be found in a series of different situations.

a. An action is directed towards a person

It’s like to do something to somebody.

Sebastián ayuda a su mamá — Sebastian helps his mother

Escuchamos a la profesora — We listen to our teacher

Doy caramelos a los niños — I give candies to the children

A mi papá le gusta leer periódicos — My dad likes reading newspapers

Don’t forget that, when a is placed before the article el, they get merged to al.

No conozco al padre de mi novia – I don’t know my girlfriend’s father

The a preposition is applied not only namely to a person, but to a personalized object, a group of people and even pets.

Lucía llama a la policía – Lucia calls the police

Tengo que llamar a la ambulancia – I have to call the ambulance

Veo a mi familia cada fin de semana – I see my family every weekend

Doy de comer al perro dos veces al día – I feed the dog two times a day

¿Escribes a alguien? – Do you write to anybody?

No escribo a nadie – I don’t write to anyone

To build questions to these sentences, a should be placed before the interrogative pronoun quién.

¿A quién escribes? – Who do you write to?

Try it yourself:

Hi to everyone!

I see Elena

Do you hear your neighbours?

Who do you love?

Could you call the taxi?

My son walks the dog in the morning

b. A movement is directed towards some place

Voy al teatro — I go to the theater

El tren llega a Madrid por la noche — The train arrives in Madrid at night

Jorge y Luisa me invitan a una fiesta — Jorge and Luisa invite me to a party

Mis padres vuelven a casa tarde — My parents come back home late

Don’t confuse a and en.

Voy a Uruguay — Estoy en Uruguay

Llego a la oficina — Trabajo en la oficina

Don’t say: Yo voy en Madrid

However, the verb entrar is traditionally used with en. Although, sometimes you can hear someone say entrar a. More likely, this person is from Latin America.

Luis entra en la habitación – Luis comes into the room (Spain)

Luis entra a la habitación – Luis comes into the room (Latin America)

In questions with interrogative pronouns, put the preposition in front of the pronouns.

¿Adónde vas? – Where are you going?

¿A qué país viajan ustedes? – What country are you going to?

Try it yourself:

I go to Peru

In spring Chema will return to the village

Tomorrow we will go to Valencia

The train arrives at the station

We invite our friends to our house

Where do you go in the morning?

What airport does the plain arrive at?

c. An action has a purpose expressed by an infinitive

Voy a una cafetería a tomar un café – I go to the cafe to have some coffee

Nos vamos a Madrid a trabajar – We go to Madrid to work

Venimos a informarnos sobre los precios de la vivienda en Benidorm — We came here to learn about the prices of the property in Benidorm

Try it yourself:

I go to Spain to learn Spanish

We go to the beach to sunbathe

d. Common situations with a

time:

A las 10 de la mañana — At 10 in the morning

Me levanto a las 7:30 — I get up at 7:30

¿A qué hora te levantas? – What time do you get up?

Al mediodía — At midday

A la medianoche — At midnight

Al mediodía tomo un té — At midday I have a tea

Me acuesto a la medianoche — I go to sleep at midnight

Estamos a 15 de enero — Today is January, 15

¿A cuántos estamos? – What date is it today?

a principios — at the beginning

a mediados — in the middle

a finales — at the end

A principios de mes — At the beginning of the month

A mediados de febrero — In the middle of February

A finales del siglo XX — At the end of the 20th century

una vez al día – once a day

tres veces a la semana – three times a week

¿Cuántas veces al día te lavas los dientes? – How many times a day do you brush your teeth?

Try it yourself:

The class starts at 9

Do you have lunch at noon?

We have a vacation at the end of August

What time do you go to sleep?

We have classes four times a day

distance:

El hotel está a 5 minutos de la playa — The hotel is five minutes away from the beach

¿A cuántos minutos está el hotel de la playa? – How many minutes is the hotel away from the beach?

Mi casa de campo está a 20 kilómetros de la ciudad — My summer house is 20 km away from the city

La parada de autobús está a dos pasos de aquí — The bus stop is in two steps from here

Try it yourself:

The metro station is 200 meters away from my work

¿How many kilometres is Toledo away from Madrid?

price:

Las manzanas están a 2 euros — The apples cost 2 euro. Literally, The apples are at 2 euro

It’s the same as: Las manzanas cuestan 2 euros

a buen precio — for a good price

¿A qué precio están las patatas? – At what price are the potatoes?

Try it yourself:

At what price is this melon?

The melon is at 50 cents

temperature:

Hoy estamos a 5 grados bajo cero — Today it’s 5 degrees below zero

¿A cuántos grados estáis? — What’s the temperature there?

Try it yourself:

Here it’s 30 degrees above zero

What’s the temperature in Australia now?

e. Verbs that require a

empezar a hacer – to start doing

comenzar a hacer – to begin doing

ponerse a hacer – get started on doing

ayudar a hacer – to help do

asistir a – to attend some event

faltar a – to be absent, to be missing

jugar a un juego – to play a game

oler a – to smell like, of

aprender a hacer – to learn to do

subirse a – to get on, in (transport)

Empiezo a trabajar a las 9 de la mañana — I start working at 9 in the morning

Comienza a llover — It starts raining

Carlos se pone a trabajar – Carlos gets to work

Ayudamos a nuestros abuelos a limpiar los suelos — We help our grandparents clean the floors

Carolina siempre asiste a clases — Carolina always attends classes

Carolina siempre falta a clases — Carolina always misses the classes

No sé jugar al tenis – I don’t know how to play tennis

Tu camiseta huele a sudor – Your t-shirt smells of sweat

Quiero aprender a nadar – I want to learn to swim

El señor López se sube al tren — Sr. Lopez gets on the train

Try it yourself:

Sofia starts learning German

Do you play football? (ustedes)

The passengers get on the airplane

It smells like flowers here

Pablo attends to the conference

Silvia is missing the conference

Two friends get in the car

Preposition de

The de preposition also has many different meanings.

a. from

place:

Ese estudiante es de África — This student is from Africa

Vengo de la universidad – I’m coming from the University

Se tarda 6 horas en llegar de Madrid a Barcelona – It takes 6 hours to get from Madrid to Barcelona

La playa está a 10 minutos del hotel — The beach is 10 minutes away from the hotel

Don’t forget that de merges with the article el: del

materials:

Esa camisa es de algodón — This t-shirt is made from cotton

time:

Trabajamos de lunes a viernes — We work from Monday to Friday

Try it yourself:

We are from Italy

Where are you from?

We are far from home

Today Luis is coming from France

From Argentina to Chile

This watch is made from gold

What material is that watch made from?

b. of, belonging to someone

una hoja de papel – a sheet of paper

Quiero una taza de té – I want a cup of tea

A las 9 de la mañana – At 9 in the morning (literally, of the morning)

el 11 de mayo – on the 11 of May

Los padres de Carla – Carla’s parents (literally, the parents of Carla)

Este sombrero es de Manuel – This is a Manuel’s hat (literally, This hat is of Manuel)

¿De quién es este sombrero? – Whose hat is this?

Try it yourself:

a glass of wine

At 11 in the morning

Alicia’s sister

c. about

una película de amor – a movie about love

Esta novela es de un loco que cree que es un caballero — This book is about a crazy man, who thinks that he is a knight

Don’t forget, that the verb pensar isn’t used with de, meaning about. It should be used with en.

Pienso en ti – I think about you

Try it yourself:

What is this book about?

This story is about adventures

d. Common expressions with de

estar de pie – to stand, to be up, to be on one’s feet

estar seguro de – to be sure of

estar cansado de – to be tired of

tener miedo de – to be afraid of

estar de vacaciones – to be on vacation

ir de vacaciones – to go on holiday

and similar:

ir de excursión — to go on an excursion

ir de compras — to go shopping

ir de tiendas — to go shopping

ir de tapas — to go to tapas bars

estar de fiesta — to be partying

Estoy todo el día de pie — I’m on my feet all day long

Estoy seguro de que Manuela no me llama hoy — I’m sure, that Manuela won’t call me today

Don’t say: Estoy seguro que …

Estamos cansados de estudiar lenguas — We are tired of learning languages

Tengo miedo de ir a México sola — I’m afraid of going to Mexico alone

Mis padres están de vacaciones en Grecia — My parents are on vacation in Greece

Hoy no trabajamos, estamos de fiesta – Today we aren’t working, we are partying

Try it yourself:

I’m on holiday now

Do you want to go to an excursion?

No, I want to go to tapas bars

Are you sure, that you are tired?

Joaquin is afraid of cockroaches

Are you standing or sitting now?

e. Verbs that require de

trabajar de – to work as

terminar de hacer – to stop doing

enamorarse de – to fall in love with

estar enamorado de – to be in love with

tratar de hacer – to try to do

depender de – to depend on

despedirse de – to say goodbye to, to bid a farewell to

disfrutar de – to enjoy smth

Juan trabaja de camarero — Juan works as a waiter

Terminamos de trabajar a las 5 – We stop working at 5

José se enamora de cada chica que ve — Jose falls in love with every girl that he sees

Trato de estar siempre tranquilo — I’m trying to stay always calm

There is a synonym to tratar – intentar. Intentar doesn’t require any preposition.

Intento llamar al médico – I try to call the doctor

But: Trato de llamar al médico

El clima del planeta depende de nosotros – The climate on the planet depends on us

Don’t say: depende en nosotros

El resultado del examen depende no sólo del profesor — The exam result doesn’t depend only on the teacher

Estamos disfrutando de la cena – We are enjoying the dinner

Rafael se va a China. Carlos viene a despedirse de él — Rafael is going to live in China. Carlos comes to bid him a farewell

By the way, in contrast to the reflexive verb despedirse (de), there is a non-reflexive verb despedir (a), which means to fire somebody.

El jefe despide a su secretaria — The boss fires his secretary

Try it yourself:

Ana works as a project manager

We finish eating and start watching the series

Who are you in love with?

Roberto is in love with his best friend

Do your children enjoy the summer?

I’m trying to understand this word

Pedro says goodbye to his girlfriend and goes away

What does our success depend on?