Nivel 1 Clase 24

Las preposiciones

Prepositions

How many prepositions are in Spanish?

In Spanish there are 20 prepositions simples plus some compounded The simple prepositions are: a, ante, bajo, con, contra, de, desde, durante, en, entre, excepto/salvo, hacia, hasta, mediante, por, para, segn, sin, sobre, tras. .

When do we use prepositions in Spanish?

There are several situations we need to write a preposition. Some of them are:

i) To relate elements of a sentence giving some extra information: Voy a la universidad (I go to the university, where a introduces the idea of direction).

ii) Some verbs need always a preposition. For example: a) Pensar en (to think about/ to think of). b) Esperar a (to wait someone). c) Acordarse de (to remember something).

How to use them?

Although there are many prepositions, dont worry, now we are going to learn only few of them:

A:
1- We use it with moviment verbs to show the destination. Voy a casa (I go home). 2- With verbs that shows status (for example estar) to give some references: Est a dos metros a la derecha (It is located two meters to the right). 3- Usually shows who is the indirect object: Dile hola a Juan (Say Hi to Juan). 4- Some verbs need it to show who receives the action of the verb (direct object): Visit a Juan y conoc a su novia (I visited Juan and met his girlfriend). 5- To show speed: El coche corre a 100km/h (The car is running 100km/h). 6-To talk about the distance between two places: Espaa est a 10.000 km de Japn (Spain is located 10,000km far away from Japan). 7- To talk about regular actions: Voy a la universidad dos veces a la semana. There are other situations you need to add a but we will study them later.

CON:

1- We use it to show company: Me encuentro con Ana (I am with Ana). Quiero una hamburguesa con patatas (I want a burger with French fries). 2- Sometimes, to talk about the content or make a description:

Hay una casa con puertas rojas (There is a house with red dors). Manuel es aquel hombre con gafas (Manuel is the man over there wearing glasses). 3- To talk about the tool or the way to do something: Como con las manos (I eat with my hands). Como helado con cuidado (I eat ice cream carefully). There are other situations you need to add con but we will study them later.

DE: 1- To talk about the origin we use de plus a verb of moviment: Vengo de Mallorca (I come from Malloca, I was there before). 2- With verbs of state shows the origin, the nationality, the material or the property. Soy de Japn (I am from Japan). Es pastel de carne (Its a cake of meat). 3- To talk about the content of something: Es una botella de agua (Its a bottle of water). 4- To talk about the kind of object: Es una bolsa de viaje (Its a travel bag). 5- Sometimes, to talk about the cause: Muri de cncer (he died because of cancer9. There are other situations you need to add de but we will study them later.

PARA/POR: 1- Para and por are use to talk about purpose, so sometimes is difficult to know when to use them properly. However, while por is used to talk about the reason or cause that motivated the actions para is used to talk about the aim: Lucha por su vida (He is fighting for his life). Lucha para ganar (He fights to win). 3

2- Both are also used for talk about place, but while por is used to talk about the way while para is used to talk about the direction or final destination: Yo voy por aqu (I take this way). Voy para Madrid este fin de semana (I go to Madrid this weekend). So usually we can see por followed by adverbs of place (aqu, ah, all) while para is followed usually by names of cities or specific places (home). 3- Both are used to talk about people. Por is used when someone wants to do an action in the place of someone else while paratalks about a person that receives some action: Puedo ir yo por ti (I can go instead of you). Tengo una carta para ti (I have a letter for you). There are other situations you need to add por or para but we will study them later.

As you can see rules are quite long and difficult to memorize. I recommend you try to memorize the prepositions that goes together with every verb.

Ir + infinitivo:
In Spanish there are several ways to talk about future. One is using futuro simple while another is using ir + infinitivo. First of all, what is infinitivo? Infinitivo is the basic form of the verbs. If you remember, in Spanish the infinitive form of all verbs have to be ar, -er, or -ir. So one example of ir + infinitivo conjugated would be Voy a ir a Madrid (I will go to Madrid).

When to use ir + infinitivo and when futuro simple?

1- Ir + infinitivo is used to talk about a future action that you are sure will happen while futuro simple is used to talk about future actions that can happen or not: Voy a ir a Espaa este verano (I will go to Spain this summer). Si mejoro mi espaol ir a Espaa (if I improve my Spanish I will go to Spain). 2- Ir + infinitivo is used to talk about a very close future that is a logical consequence of the present, while futuro simple is used to talk about something that probably will happen in the future: Estoy cansada, voy a dormir (I am tired, I am going to sleep). Llaman por telfono, ser tu madre? (The phone is ringing, maybe is your mother?). 3- Ir + infinitivo is used to talk about plans that surely will happen while futuro simple is used to talk about forecasts: Este fin de semana voy a ir a Barcelona (This weekend I will go to Barcelona). Probablemente maana llover (tomorrow will rain tomorrow).