Spanish prepositions
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The Spanish language has a relatively large amount of prepositions. (Spanish does not use postpositions.) The full list is traditionally recited as follows:
a, ante, bajo, cabe, con, contra, de, desde, durante, en, entre, hacia, hasta, mediante, para, por, según, sin, so, sobre, tras.
This list includes two archaic prepositions (so and cabe), but leaves out two new Latinisms (vía and pro) as well as a large number of very important compound prepositions, which are dealt with in a separate section.
All of the above prepositions derive from Latin, except for hasta.
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a
A, from the Latin AD, has the basic meaning of "to" or "at".
One major use of a is to introduce indirect objects (the role of the dative case in Latin):
- Le envié la carta a Ana = "I sent the letter to Ana "
- ¿Le(s) regalaste el coche a tus padres? = "Did you give your parents the car as a present?"
It is the main preposition that indicates movement:
- ¿Adónde vas? = "Where are you going [to]?"
- Voy a Zaragoza = "I'm going to Saragossa"
A also links many verbs:
- Voy a enfadarme = "I'm going to get angry"
- Aprende no sólo a hablar sino también a escribir el castellano = "Don't just learn to speak but also to write Spanish"
It is also part of numerous compound prepositions (see relevant section below).
Personal a
As in English, in Spanish the direct object of a sentence usually gets no preposition. The only exception to this is when the direct object is a person, in which case it gets the preposition a.
- Veo el árbol. = "I can see the tree."
- Veo a María. = "I can see María."
This applies not just to pronouns but also to stressed pronouns:
- La veo a ésa = "I can see that girl"
- ¿A quién ves? = "Whom can you see?"
- Te quiere ver a ti = "It's you they want to see"
But not to unstressed pronouns me, te, se, lo, la, le, nos, os, los, las, les:
- La veo = "I can see her"
- ¿Me ves? = "Can you see me?"
- Le/lo veo = "I can see him"
There is, in some places, a tendency to use the indirect-object pronouns in the third person (particularly in the masculine singular) when a person is referred to, and this phenomenon is related to that of personal a. See Leísmo.
As an extension of this rule, when something is perceived to share some human qualities it may also get the preposition a. Pets are very likely to get it, while other animals will not. Organizations made out of people such as political parties or associations will also get it.
- Veo al perro. "I see the dog."
- Aprecia mucho a su empresa. "He holds his company in high esteem."
ante
Ante, from the Latin ANTE, has the basic meaning of "before", "in front of".
- Estoy ante la montaña. "I'm in front of the mountain."
- Me quito el sombrero ante usted. "I take my hat off before you."
bajo
Bajo, from the Latin BASSVS, has the basic meaning of "under".
- El gato está bajo la mesa = "The cat is under the table"
- Esto sucedió bajo su presidencia = "This happened under his presidency"
cabe
Cabe, a contraction of a cabo de, in turn from the Latin AD, CAPVT and DE, means "alongside", "beside" or "next to". It is rather archaic, and is not used in modern spoken Spanish.
It is not to be confused with cabe from the verb caber.
- Calienta tus manos cabe el fuego = "Warm your hands next to the fire"
con
Con, from the Latin CVM, has the basic meaning of "with". This preposition is rather idiosyncratic in that it combines with the personal pronouns mí, ti and sí in the following manner: conmigo, contigo, consigo. The -go suffix is in fact the same word as con. That is to say, CVM was in Latin very often placed after its pronoun like this: MECVM, TECVM, SECVM, etc. This gave migo, tigo, sigo, and also forms such as nosco and vosco that have been lost. Over time, the meaning of the -go or -co suffix was forgotten, and people started adding a redundant con- prefix to the same words.
We can see the same phenomenon in Italian, where one can say either con me, con te, con sé or (in archaic style) meco, teco, seco.
- Ven conmigo y con él = "Come with me and him"
- Iré a la fiesta con vosotras = "I'll come to the party with you girls"
- Es raro llevar un billete de 200€ consigo = "It's unusual to carry a €200 note around on one's person"
contra
Contra, from the Latin CONTRA, has the basic meaning of "against".
- Contra todo pronóstico = "Against all odds"
- Mujer contra mujer = "Woman against woman" (a song by Ana Torroja)
de
De, from the Latin DE, has the basic meaning of "of" or "from".
- Es la más famosa de todas = "She's the most famous [one] of all [of them]"
- Soy de Madrid = "I'm from Madrid"
It is also the equivalent of the possessive 's in English. For example:
- El clima cálido de España = "Spain's warm climate"
- La hermana de David = "David's sister"
- Ese libro es el del profesor = "That book is the teacher's [one]"
De is part of many compound prepositions, such as dentro de and en contra de. See below.
desde
Desde, from the Latin DE, EX and DE, has the basic meaning of "from" or "since".
- Desde que te conocí = "Since I met you"
- Desde [la] Argentina hasta México/Méjico = "From Argentina to Mexico"
- Desde entonces no ha vuelto a ser la misma = "Since then, she hasn't been the same"
durante
Durante, from the Latin DVRANS, has the basic meaning of "during" or "for".
- Nació durante la segunda guerra mundial. = "He was born during the second world war."
- Hubo caos durante ocho años. = "There was chaos for eight years."
en
En, from the Latin IN, has the basic meaning of "in" or "on".
- Lo dejé en la mesa. = "I left it on the table."
- Vivo en España. = "I live in Spain."
entre
Entre, from the Latin INTER, has the basic meaning of "between" or "among(st)".
- La nariz está entre los ojos. = "The nose is between the eyes."
- Es más fácil entre amigos. = "It's easier among friends."
hacia
Hacia, from the Latin FACIES AD, means "towards" and is often replaced by shorter a (with the meaning of "to").
- Un camino hacia la paz mundial. = "A path towards world peace."
hasta
Hasta, from the Arabic hatta, has the basic meaning of "until" or "up to".
- Vamos hasta la cima. = "Let's go up to the top."
- Dormí hasta las nueve. = "I slept until nine o'clock."
mediante
Mediante, from the Latin MEDIANS, means "by means of" or "through". It is more or less restricted to formal use (it is comfortably replaced by por medio de)
- Curan cáncer de hígado mediante una terapia experimental = "Liver cancer cured by experimental therapy" (Latin American-style headline)
- Rehabilitación mediante, pudo volver a caminar = "By means of rehabilitation, she was able to walk again"
por and para
Por is a mixture of the Latin PER and PRO. Para is in turn a corruption of por a. They both have several translations.
These two prepositions cause much confusion for learners, as they both translate "for" in English. According to Cassell's Contemporary Spanish, in general, por indicates cause or reason (looks backwards), while para indicates purpose or destination (looks forwards). Common instances of para and por are indicated below.
- para
- Purpose (intended for)
- Estas flores son para tí. = "This flowers are for you."
- Lo lavé para que lo guardaras. = "I washed it so you can keep it."
- Destination (towards) (informal, used instead of a or hacia)
- Voy para el sur. = "I'm going south."
- Until, by (a certain time)
- Para esta época del año siempre llueve. = "By this time of the year it always rains."
- por
- Refers to time or place in a general sense
- Lo perdí por ahí. = "I lost it around there."
- In exchange for, in place of
- Cambié mis euros por dólares. = "I exchanged my euros for dollars."
- Per (day, hour, mile, etc.)
- Pagan 1 euro por hora. = "They pay 1 euro per hour."
- By means of
- Es más rápido por la autopista. = "It's faster by the motorway."
- Cause (porque = "because")
- Lo hice porque tenía que hacerlo. "I did it because I had to."
- For the sake or benefit of
- Todo lo que hago, lo hago por tí. = "Everything I do, I do it for you."
- In favour of
- Yo voto por el partido de izquierda. = "I vote for the left-wing party."
pro
Pro, from the Latin PRO meaning "for", is used much as in English, to mean "in favour of".
- Comité Nacional Pro Defensa de la Fauna = "National Committee for the Defence of Fauna"
Pro is frequently replaced by its compound form en pro de or by a favor de:
- Cada día hay más gente en pro de la eutanasia = "Every day there are more people in favour of euthanasia".
según
Según, from the Latin SECVNDVM, has the basic meaning of "according to". Unlike that English preposition however, it can be followed by a verb without the need for a word like "what".
- Según dice él, es un buen libro = "According to him (literally 'according to [what] he says'), it's a good book"
- Según convenga = "As required" (literally 'according to [what] is appropriate')
sin
Sin, from the Latin SINE, has the basic meaning of "without".
- Un té sin leche, por favor = "A tea without milk, please"
- Se metió en la cama sin despertarla = "He got into bed without waking her up"
If we add the word que, we get the conjuction sin que, which requires the subjunctive mood:
- Se metió en la cama sin que se despertara = "He got into bed without her waking up"
- No se puede poner a esos niños en el mismo cuarto sin que se peleen. = "You can't put those children in the same room without them fighting."
- Los ladrones entraron sin que los notase nadie = "The thieves got it without anyone noticing"
so
So, from the Latin SVB, is almost as rare as cabe, surviving only in certain set phrases such as so pena de muerte... ("on pain of death"). Also: so pretexto de, so capa de, so color de.
sobre
Sobre, from the Latin SVPER, has the basic meaning of "on", "on top of".
- Dejé las llaves sobre la mesa = "I left the keys on the table"
- La salsa boloñesa se sirve sobre los espaguetis = "Bolognese sauce is served on spaghetti"
tras
Tras, from the Latin TRANS, ("behind", "after") may be found in written language but is rare in speaking. It, and the much more common prepositions bajo ("beneath") and sobre ("on"), can also be replaced with phrases (compound prepositions): detrás de or atrás de, abajo de or debajo de, arriba de or encima de, or luego de.
- Tras los árboles se oculta el enemigo. = "Behind the trees hides the enemy."
- Tras tan larga travesía me senté a descansar. = "After such a long ride, I sat down to rest."
vía
Vía, from the Latin VIA meaning "way" or "road", is used as "via" is used in English, i.e. to mean "by way of".
- Televisión vía satélite = "Satellite TV"
- Volamos a París vía Madrid = "We flew to Paris via Madrid"
Compound prepositions
Spanish has an assortment of replacements for most simple prepositions, which take the form of compound phrases: de acuerdo con for según, en dirección a for hacia, etc. They follow the same principle as English compound prepositions like in front of, on top of, etc. Sobre ("on") is often preferred as a less ambiguous alternative to en, which can mean either "on" or "in".
When a concept can be expressed by a simple preposition or a compound one, either can be more common or more formal. For example, después de is more common than tras, but para is more common than con la finalidad de.
Compound prepositions are typically made up of:
- Preposition + noun + preposition, e.g.:
- por causa de / a causa de / en razón de = "because of"
- sin prejuicio de = "notwithstanding" / "without prejudice to"
- con respecto a = "with respect to" / "regarding"
- a favor de = "in favour of"
- en contra de = "against" (note: en mi contra, en tu contra, etc)
- en lugar de / en vez de = "instead of" / "in lieu of"
- Adverb + preposition, e.g.:
- después de = "after"
- debajo de = "underneath"
- antes de = "before"
- junto a = "beside" / "alongside"
- delante de = "in front of"
One very special compound preposition is a por, meaning "for". It uniquely combines two simple prepositions. It can always be replaced by por alone; however, it helpfully allows a distinction to be made between sentences such as the following:
- Subí por la escalera = "I went up using the ladder" / "I went up the stairs"
- Subí [a] por la escalera = "I went up for the ladder" (i.e. "I went up to get the ladder")
Its use is extremely common amongst all social classes in Spain. However, the Real Academia condemns it.
Other compound prepositions include: tras de, a fuerza de, por junto a, junto a, encima de, por en medio de, detrás de, en medio de, en pos de, por delante de, con rumbo a, con destino a, a través de
Translating English postpositions
English has the feature of having three postpositions. This means that in addition to saying thing like "in the box", "on the aeroplane", "out of Africa"... just like Spanish, we can also say things like "Three years ago". If we treat such words as prepositions, we get nonsense sentences like *"ago three years". The following sentences should demonstrate how Spanish expresses the same concepts using only prepositions:
- Hace tres años = "three years ago"
- Dentro de tres años = "three years hence"
- A cinco kilómetros = "three miles away"