Spanish Preposition Basics
Prepositions are the workhorses of the Spanish language - they are used to join many different words, clauses and phrases. They don't really have meaning of their own - rather, they are used to show position, time, and relationships of other words. They can join nouns to other nouns, verbs to other verbs, verbs to nouns or pronouns, and before place names.
Here are some examples:
Noun to noun:
Me gustan los libros de misterio. [I like mystery novels.]
¿Quieres ver un película de terror? [Do you want to see a horror movie?]
Verb to verb:
¡Vamos a bailar ésta noche! [We're going to dance tonight!]
Está empezando a nevar. [It is starting to snow.]
Verb to noun:
Estamos hablando de las noticias. [We're talking about the news.]
Cenamos con amigos sábado. [We're eating with friends Saturday.]
Verb to pronoun:
Tienes que hablar con ella. [You have to talk to her.]
¿Hay bastante comida para nosotros? [Is there enough good for us?]
Before place names:
Tienen una casa en Perú. [They have a house in Peru.]
Vamos a Florida. [We're going to Florida.]
Here are some of the most common prepositions in Spanish (For prepositions of place, see lesson 26)
A [to, at]
A tiempo [on time]
Acerca de [about]
Además de [besides]
Antes [before]
Con [with]
Contra [against]
De [of, from, about]
Desde [since]
Después [after]
Durante [during]
En [in, on, by]
En cambio [on the other hand]
En lugar de [instead of]
En vez de [instead of]
Hasta [until]
Por [for, by]
Para [for]
Según [according to]
Sin [without]
The following are prepositions showing location:
A través (de) [across from]
Alrededor de [around]
Cerca de [near]
Contra [against]
Debajo de [beneath, under]
Delante de [in front of]
Dentro de [inside, within]
Detrás de [behind]
En casa de [at the house of]
Encima de [above, on top of]
Enfrente de [opposite, in front of]
Entre [between]
Frente a [in front of]
Fuera de [outside of]
En medio de [in the middle of]
Lejos de [far]
Sobre [over, above, on, upon]
Here are some examples:
Noun to noun:
Me gustan los libros de misterio. [I like mystery novels.]
¿Quieres ver un película de terror? [Do you want to see a horror movie?]
Verb to verb:
¡Vamos a bailar ésta noche! [We're going to dance tonight!]
Está empezando a nevar. [It is starting to snow.]
Verb to noun:
Estamos hablando de las noticias. [We're talking about the news.]
Cenamos con amigos sábado. [We're eating with friends Saturday.]
Verb to pronoun:
Tienes que hablar con ella. [You have to talk to her.]
¿Hay bastante comida para nosotros? [Is there enough good for us?]
Before place names:
Tienen una casa en Perú. [They have a house in Peru.]
Vamos a Florida. [We're going to Florida.]
Here are some of the most common prepositions in Spanish (For prepositions of place, see lesson 26)
A [to, at]
A tiempo [on time]
Acerca de [about]
Además de [besides]
Antes [before]
Con [with]
Contra [against]
De [of, from, about]
Desde [since]
Después [after]
Durante [during]
En [in, on, by]
En cambio [on the other hand]
En lugar de [instead of]
En vez de [instead of]
Hasta [until]
Por [for, by]
Para [for]
Según [according to]
Sin [without]
The following are prepositions showing location:
A través (de) [across from]
Alrededor de [around]
Cerca de [near]
Contra [against]
Debajo de [beneath, under]
Delante de [in front of]
Dentro de [inside, within]
Detrás de [behind]
En casa de [at the house of]
Encima de [above, on top of]
Enfrente de [opposite, in front of]
Entre [between]
Frente a [in front of]
Fuera de [outside of]
En medio de [in the middle of]
Lejos de [far]
Sobre [over, above, on, upon]
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