The Spanish Preposition  

Spanish Prepositions

One word should not be used in Spanish governed by two different prepositions, as:
  • He is an admirer of and a contributor to the "Times":
    Es admirador del "Times" y colabora en ese periódico.
  • The man I spoke with and wrote to:
    El hombre con quien hablé y al cual escribí.

However, we find the same construction as in English in cases of antithesis, as:

  • Con o sin él.
    With or without him.
  • El billete cuesta 20 pesetas desde o hasta Madrid.
    The ticket is 20 ptas. from or to Madrid.

The Spanish Academy condemns this use, however.

As will have been noticed before, a preposition governing a word cannot be used after the word it governs, as:

  • The work[1] which I referred to.
    La obra a la cual referí.
Footnote 1: Work, artistic, literary, scientific--"obra." Work, manual, or mental--"trabajo."
The preposition con followed by an infinitive translates the English "by," followed by the present participle:
  • Con enseñar se aprende.
    By teaching one learns.

The preposition desde refers to "distance of time or space," as:

  • He marchado desde mi casa.
    I walked from my house.

However, desde may be used instead of de before names of countries or cities:

  • Me escribieron desde Barcelona.
    They wrote me from Barcelona.

Para may be used together with con = "towards":

  • Fue muy bueno conmigo, para mí, or para conmigo.

"En acabando[2] lo haré" has the meaning of "I shall do it as soon as I have finished."

Footnote 2: En is the only preposition which may govern a pres. participle, generally with the meaning given above.

Sin--"without":

  • Poseía £10,000 sin los bienes raíces que heredó de su padre.
    He owned £10,000 besides the real property he inherited from his father.

Según--"according to":

  • Según y como.
    That depends.

And in a few other such phrases.

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Popular Phrase: acordar | Spanish Resources for Kids | Conjugated Verb: brincar - to jump, to frolic [ click for full conjugation ]