PREPOSITIONS

Those little words that can confuse you

You have written a paragraph and when it gets corrected you find that there are so many little words missing! Frustrating right?!

I know the feeling. It happened to me too when I was studying English. Yes! You have them in English grammar as well!.

First of all, let’s understand some Spanish grammar.

What are prepositions? 

Prepositions are those little, but important words,  that connect two words, verbs, nouns or pronouns to other parts of a sentence. They are often used to indicate relationships between two or more words or elements, and can express location, direction or time. 

Prepositions	Meaning	Use
a	to, at, by, for, action affects a person	- Vamos a la casa.   Let’s go to the house. - La fiesta es a las siete.   The party is at seven. - Los hizo a mano.   He made them by hand. - Buscamos a los perros.   We are looking for the dogs. - Visitaremos a Laura.   We will visit Laura.
de	of, from, about	- Es el libro de mi hija.   The book is from my daughter. - Ella es de Ecuador.   She is from Ecuador. - La película es de acción.   The film is about action. (It’s an action film.)
en	in, on, at	- El dinero está en la cartera.   The money is in the purse. - Las gafas están en la mesa.   The glasses are on the table. - Estamos en la tienda.   We are at the shop.
con	with	- Vamos con los niños.   Let’s go with the kids.
sin	without	- Vamos sin los niños.   Let’s go without the kids.
por	for, through, because of, exchange, on behalf of	- Iremos por dos semanas.   We are going for two weeks. - Vamos por el parque.   Let’s go through the park. - Estoy triste por la película.    I am sad because of the film. - Cuesta cinco euros por dos kilos.   It costs five euros for two kilos. - Lo compro por ti.   I buy it for you.
para	for, to, in order to, destination	- Esto es para mí.   This is for me. - Compró una maleta para viajar.   She bought a suitcase to travel. - Preparó la cena para comer.   He prepared dinner to/ in order to eat. - Ese bus va para Londres.   That bus goes to London.
sobre	about, on, above, over, around, regarding	- El libro es sobre dinosaurios.   The book is about dinosaurs. - El plato está sobre la mesa.   The plate is on the table. - El cuadro está sobre la nevera.   The picture is above the fridge. - Caminamos sobre unos 5 kilómetros.   We walk around five five kilometers.  - Sobre los problemas en la oficina, hemos decidido no hacer nada.    Regarding the problems from the office, we have decided not to do anything.

Preposition	Meaning	Use
hasta	up to, until, to	- Caminamos hasta el final de la calle.   We walked up to the end of the street. - La tienda abre hasta las 5 pm.   The shop opens until 5 pm. - Camina hasta el semáforo.   Walk to the traffic light.
entre	between, among	- Está  entre el parque y la iglesia.   It’s between the park and the church. - Ellos están entre toda esa gente.   They are amongst all those people.
desde	from, since	- Estamos trabajando desde las 9 am.   We are working from 9 am. - Vivo en España desde 1999.   I live in Spain since 1999
hacia	toward	- Camina hacia la rotonda.   Walk towards the roundabout.
contra	against	- La silla está contra la pared.    The chair is against the wall. - Ellos están contra la violencia.   They are against violence.
bajo	under	- Él trabaja bien bajo presión.   He works well under pressure.
ante	In view of this, because of this	- Ante esta situación es preferible no viajar este año.   In view of this situation, it is better not to travel this year.
según	according to	- Según ella, la película no es buena.   According to her the film isn’t good.
tras	after, behind	- Hubo mucho caos tras la tormenta.   There was a lot of chaos after the storm. - La bici está tras la puerta.   The bike is behind the door.
durante	during	- Nadie salió durante la tormenta.   Nobody got out during the storm.
versus	versus	- Hoy juega Nadal vs Federer.   Today is Nadal vs Federer.
delante de	in front of, opposite, before	- La entrada está delante de ti.   The entrance is in front of you.
detrás de	behind	- El árbol está detrás de la casa.   The tree is behind the house.
encima de	on, above	- Mi sombrero está encima de la mesa.   My hat is on the table.
en frente de	In front of	- El perro está en frente de la tienda.   The dog is in front of the shop.

¡Vamos a practicar!   -  Let’s practice!

Which preposition do you need for every example? (In some cases you have more than one option)

1. ¿_________  dónde vas?

2. Ellos son ____ mi clase.

3. Estaremos en Perú ______ tres semanas.

4. Necesito más ____ esto.

5. ¿___  dónde es tu coche?

6. ___________ el jefe, mañana no trabajamos.

7. Estoy esperándote _________ hace media hora.

8. Van a servir comida _________ la fiesta.

Translate and use the correct preposition.

1. This is for you.

2. The cat is in between the houses.

3. Until what time are you working?

4. She is from Austria.

5. How long is the class? (Until what time is the class?)

6. She is doing all the work for her because she is not well.

https://www.learnspanishwithlulu.com/