Spanish preposition

Prepositions are crucial in Spanish: they provide context and establish relationships between words. They do not usually have an exact correspondence between languages, so it is essential to learn them well. You can do so by reading books and newspapers.

In this article, we will explore the world of prepositions in Spanish, covering different types of prepositions, their usage, and everyday examples. By the end of this comprehensive guide, you will have a solid grasp of prepositions in Spanish and be able to use them confidently.

What are prepositions?

Let’s start with the basic definition. The Essential Dictionary of the Spanish Language defines a preposition as:

“An invariable word that introduces nominal elements or substantive subordinate clauses by making them dependent on a preceding word.”

Types of prepositions in Spanish

In Spanish, there are two main types of prepositions: Simple prepositions and compound prepositions. 

Simple prepositions, such as a (“to”) and en (“in”, “on”), stand-alone and introduce various complements. Compound prepositions, such as encima de (“on top of”) and al lado de (“next to”), are composed of multiple words and convey specific spatial or temporal relationships. 

In addition to prepositions, there are prepositional phrases (e.g., después de, “after,” or cerca de, “near”), which are groupings of words that together function grammatically as a preposition.

Understanding these types of prepositions is essential for constructing accurate and meaningful sentences in Spanish.

Simple prepositions

Many Spanish people learn the list of prepositions by heart in their school days. They have changed through the years, but here is the current list: a, ante, bajo, cabe, con, contra, de, desde, durante, en, entre, hacia, hasta, mediante, para, por, según, sin, so, sobre, tras, versus, and vía.

Simple prepositions, such as a (“to”), en (“in,” “on,” “at”), and de (“of,” “from”), establish various relationships within a sentence. Those we just mentioned, for example, specify complements of movement: 

• Voy a la tienda. (“I’m going to the store.”)
• Estoy en casa. (“I’m at home.”)
• Soy de Granada. (“I’m from Granada.”)

The most commonly used simple prepositions in Spanish include:

A (“to,” “at”): Used to indicate movement or direction toward a place or person.

• Voy a la playa. (“I’m going to the beach.”)

En (“in,” “on,” “at”): Used to indicate location, time, and means.

• Estoy en la tienda. (“I’m in the store.”)

De (“of,” “from”): Used to indicate possession, origin, and material.

• El libro de María (“Maria’s book”)

Con (“with”): Denotes association or accompaniment.

• _Voy al cine con mis amigos. (“I’m going to the movies with my friends.”)

Por (“by,” “for”): It has several meanings, including “through” and “in exchange for.”

• Pasé por tu casa. (“I passed by your house.”)

Sin (“without”): Indicates the absence or lack of something.

• Prefiero café sin azúcar. (“I prefer coffee without sugar.”)

Compound prepositions

Compound prepositions consist of two or more words and function similarly to simple prepositions.

Compound prepositions, such as encima de (“on top of”), al lado de (“next to”), and cerca de (“near”), express specific relationships between objects or locations.

• El libro está encima de la mesa. (“The book is on top of the table.”)
• La biblioteca está cerca de mi casa. (“The library is near my house.”)
• La oficina de correos está al lado de la panadería. (“The post office is next to the bakery.”)

The most commonly used compound prepositions in Spanish include:

Encima de (“on top of”): Indicates the position of an object or person on another.

• Ella siempre está encima de todo. (“She is always on top of things.”)

Al lado de (“next to,” “beside”): Indicates proximity or being alongside something or someone.

• Mi casa está al lado del parque. (“My house is next to the park.”)

Cerca de (“near”): Indicates proximity or being close to a place or person.

• Hay un supermercado cerca de mi casa. (“There is a supermarket near my house.”)

Dentro de (“inside”): Indicates location within a space or object.

• El regalo está dentro de la caja. (“The gift is inside the box.”)

Fuera de (“outside”): Indicates location outside a space or object.

• No quiero estar fuera de casa hoy. (“I don’t want to stay outside today.”)

Lejos de (“far from”): Indicates distance or being far away from a place or person.

• Mi trabajo está lejos de mi casa. (“My work is far from my house.”)

Debajo de (“underneath”): Indicates a position beneath or below something.

• El perro está debajo de la cama. (“The dog is under the bed.”)

Sobre (“on,” “over”): Indicates a position above or covering something.

• El avión voló sobre las montañas. (“The plane flew over the mountains.”)

Prepositional phrases

Prepositional phrases consist of a preposition and its complement, which can be a noun, pronoun, or noun phrase. 

Let’s take the expression en medio de la nada (“in the middle of nowhere”): 

• En is a simple proposition.
• Medio (“middle”) is a noun.
• De is another simple preposition.
• La nada is another noun accompanied by la, the article in the feminine form.

Several commonly used prepositional phrases in Spanish are helpful for everyday communication:

Alrededor de (“around,” “surrounding”): Indicates the surrounding area or proximity.

• Hay árboles alrededor del parque. (“There are trees around the park.”)

Por lo tanto (“therefore,” “consequently”): Indicates a cause-and-effect relationship or logical consequence.

• Estudié mucho; por lo tanto, aprobé el examen. (“I studied a lot; therefore, I passed the exam.”)

Gracias a (“thanks to”): Indicates the reason or cause of something positive.

• Logré acabar la carrera gracias a mi dedicación. (“I managed to finish my degree thanks to my dedication.”)

A pesar de (“despite”): Indicates a contrast or opposition.

• A pesar del mal tiempo, salimos a pasear. (“Despite the bad weather, we went for a walk.”)

En contra de (“against”): Indicates opposition or disagreement.

• Estoy en contra de esa decisión. (“I am against that decision.”)

De acuerdo con (“according to”): Indicates conformity or agreement with something.

• De acuerdo con el informe, la situación mejorará pronto. (“According to the report, the situation will improve soon.”)

Common prepositions in Spanish

In Spanish, you can use prepositions to express concepts such as position, time, or movement.

Prepositions of place

Prepositions of place are used to describe where objects or people are located:

Spanish preposition	English translation	Example in Spanish	English translation
Al lado de	Next to, beside	Mi casa está al lado del supermercado. Me senté al lado de mi hermano en el cine.	My house is next to the supermarket. I sat beside my brother at the cinema.
Bajo	Under, beneath	El gato está bajo la cama. El tesoro está enterrado bajo la arena.	The cat is under the bed. The treasure is buried beneath the sand.
Cerca de	Near	Hay un supermercado cerca de mi casa. El hotel está cerca de la playa.	There is a supermarket near my house. The hotel is close to the beach.
Delante de	In front of	El coche está delante del edificio. Me puse nervioso al hablar delante de tanta gente.	The car is in front of the building. I got nervous speaking in front of so many people.
Dentro de	Inside	El regalo está dentro de la caja. Hace mucho calor dentro del coche.	The gift is inside the box. It’s very hot inside the car.
Detrás de	Behind	El árbol está detrás de la casa. La verdad se esconde detrás de las mentiras.	The tree is behind the house. The truth hides behind the lies.
En	In, on	El libro está en la mesa. Vivo en Madrid.	The book is on the table. I live in Madrid.
Entre	Between, among	El parque está entre el banco y la escuela. Nos sentamos entre Juan y María.	The park is between the bank and the school. We sat between Juan and María.
Fuera de	Outside	No quiero estar fuera de casa hoy. Los niños juegan fuera, en el jardín.	I don’t want to go outside today. The children are playing outside in the garden.
Junto a	Next to	Me senté junto a mi amiga en el concierto. La iglesia está junto al parque.	I sat next to my friend at the concert. The church is next to the park.
Lejos de	Far from	Mi trabajo está lejos de mi casa. Nos mudamos lejos de la ciudad.	My work is far from my house. We moved far from the city.
Sobre	On, above	El cuadro está sobre la pared. Hay un avión sobre las nubes.	The painting is on the wall. There is a plane above the clouds.

Prepositions of time

Prepositions of time are used to indicate when events occur:

Spanish preposition	English translation	Example in Spanish	English translation
A las	At, on	La reunión es a las nueve de la mañana. Salimos a las ocho de la noche.	The meeting is at nine in the morning. We leave at eight in the evening.
Antes de	Before	Debes hacer los deberes antes de salir a jugar. Llegué al aeropuerto antes de la hora de salida.	You must do your homework before going out to play. I arrived at the airport before the departure time.
Desde	Since, from	Trabajo aquí desde hace dos años. Salimos desde el aeropuerto.	I have been working here for two years. We depart from the airport.
Después de	After	Voy a estudiar después de la cena. Llegaré a tu casa después de las ocho.	I will study after dinner. I will arrive at your house after eight.
Durante	During	Estudiamos mucho durante el semestre. Durante el invierno, hace frío.	We studied a lot during the semester. During winter, it’s cold.
En	In, on, at	En verano, prefiero ir a la montaña. Mi cumpleaños es en junio.	In summer, I prefer to go to the mountains. My birthday is in June.
Hasta	Until, to	El parque está abierto hasta las diez de la noche. Camina hasta la esquina y dobla a la izquierda.	The park is open until ten at night. Walk to the corner and turn left.
Para	For, by, to	Compré un regalo para mi madre. Estudiamos para el examen.	I bought a gift for my mother. We study for the exam.
Por	For, during	Estudiamos por dos horas. Trabajé en Madrid por un año.	We studied for two hours. I worked in Madrid for a year.
Sobre	About, on	Escribí un ensayo sobre lenguaje inclusivo. El programa empieza sobre las nueve de la noche.	I wrote an essay about inclusive language. The program starts around nine in the evening.

Prepositions of movement

Prepositions of movement are used to express direction or motion:

Spanish preposition	English translation	Example in Spanish	English translation
A	To, at	Voy a la tienda. Llegamos a la estación de tren.	I’m going to the store. We arrived at the train station.
Desde	From	Vengo desde la oficina. Viajamos desde Madrid.	I come from the office. We travel from Madrid.
Hacia	Toward	Camina hacia la playa. El tren se dirige hacia el norte.	Walk toward the beach. The train is heading north.
Para	Toward, for	¡Estoy harta del frío! Me voy para el sur. Salgo mañana para Australia.	I’m sick of the cold! I’m going south. I leave tomorrow for Australia.
A través de	Through	Caminamos a través del bosque. La luz pasa a través de la ventana.	We walked through the forest. The light passes through the window.

Prepositions and verb combinations

A specific preposition accompanies some Spanish verbs. Knowing these combinations is very useful because it makes your communication more fluid.

Verbs with en

Confiar en (“to trust,” “to rely on”):

When followed by an infinitive verb, confiar en means “to be confident in.” When followed by an object, it means “to trust in/to rely on.”

• Confío en hacer un buen trabajo. (“I’m confident I’ll do a good job.”)
• Confío en mi instinto. (“I trust my gut.”)

Pensar en (“to think about”)

• Estoy pensando en mis vacaciones. (“I am thinking about my vacation.”)

Verbs with de

Hablar de (“to talk about”)

• Vamos a hablar de nuestros planes. (“Let’s talk about our plans.”)

Depender de (“to depend on”)

• El resultado depende de muchos factores. (“The result depends on many factors.”)

Verbs with con

Contar con (“to rely on”)

• Puedes contar conmigo. (“You can count on me.”)

Soñar con (“to dream about”)

• Sueño con viajar por el mundo. (“I dream about traveling the world.”)

Verbs with a

In Spanish, unlike English, there is a grammatical rule called a personal (“personal a”). The “personal a” is placed before the object when the object is a person. This rule does not exist in English, which can sound confusing. Let’s see how it works with a few examples:

Cuidar a (“to take care of”)

• Esta tarde tengo que cuidar a mi sobrina. (“This afternoon I have to take care of my niece.”)

Esperar a (“to wait for”)

• Estoy esperando a mis amigos. (“I am waiting for my friends.”)

Llamar a (“to call”)

• Llama al número que te he dado. (“Call the number I gave you.”)

Verbs with por

Comenzar por (“to begin with”)

• Comienzo por la primera pregunta. (“I start with the first question.”)

Estar por (“to be in favor of”)

This form can support an infinitive verb or a noun. With an infinitive verb, estar por means “to consider doing something”:

• Estoy por hacer una llamada a la dirección. (“I am about to make a call to the management.”)

With an object, it expresses preference or stance on a cause or a subject:

• Estoy por la primera opción. (“I’m in favour of the first option.”)

Verbs with de

Acordarse de (“to remember to”)

• Acuérdate de ir al banco. (“Remember to go to the bank.”)

Dejar de (“to stop”)

• Deja de preocuparte por ella. (“Stop worrying about her.”)

Tratar de (“to try,” “to attempt to”):

• Quiero tratar de leer más libros. (“I want to try to read more books.”)

Prepositions in idiomatic expressions

Prepositions also play a significant role in idiomatic expressions:

Dejar en paz (“to leave alone”)

• Por favor, déjame en paz. (“Please, leave me alone.”)

Estar en las nubes (“to be daydreaming”)

• Después de escuchar la canción, estaba en las nubes. (“After listening to the song, I was daydreaming.)

En el fondo (“deep down, fundamentally”)

• En el fondo, sé que tienes razón. (“Deep down, I know you’re right.”)

Por si las moscas/por si acaso (“just in case”)

• Cuando estoy en la ciudad, siempre tengo la alarma del coche encendida, por si las moscas. (“When I’m in the city, I always have the car alarm on, just in case.”)
• Reservé el hotel, por si acaso. (“I booked the hotel, just in case.”)

Por cierto (“by the way”):

• Por cierto, me he olvidado de contarte lo que ha pasado. (_“_By the way, I forgot to tell you what happened.”)