Who does not remember the prepositions? It is something that they made you memorize in school and that ended up being said in a rush. The downside of doing it from memory without understanding it is that it was forgotten over time. Therefore, in addition to using memory, it is better to understand it so that in this way, it is never forgotten even if time passes.
Usually there are 19 prepositions, although currently the RAE (Royal Spanish Academy) approves 21. There are some Spanish-speaking places where some are also used that are in disuse, such as: cabe, so. Others that are not in the list of usual prepositions are also used, such as: during, through, pro, versus and via. Although, as we said, the latter have been added to the list to complete it.
Updated Prepositions List (RAE)
- to
- before
- low
- with
- against
- of
- since
- during
- in
- between
- toward
- until
- through
- for
- by
- pro
- according
- without
- on
- after
- versus
- via
Examples of phrases with prepositions
So that you better understand prepositions, we are going to give you an example of each:
- a:He went to see his mother at his aunt’s house.
- ante:He was before the judge last Tuesday.
- low:I was looking for the book under the cabinet.
- with:I like to drink milk with cocoa every morning.
- Against:The hail was against the windows with great force.
- from:The shirt I’m wearing is made of
- since:I haven’t seen you since
- during:Tonight you will be working in the office for 8 more hours.
- in:he Entered into house through the window because the keys forgot.
- between:Jealousy is common between
- towards:We are thinking of going on a trip to the North of the country.
- until:I was in line at the supermarket until my sister arrived.
- through: Hestudied through online classes and it went well.
- to:I have a gift for Luis because today is his birthday.
- by:I have given you a book for your good grades this year.
- according to:He did the work according to the teacher’s explanations.
- without:They tell me that’s a no sense to me.
- about:Grandma’s cell phone was on the bed.
- after:I was waiting for you behind the door of work.
- versus: Tonight the soccer team of my city will face against the one of the capital.
- route: Hehas traveled all the way to your house.
Prepositions in a sentence
Prepositions in a sentence are unchanging and unstressed words (except “according to”) that introduce a noun or a nominal group (preposition term) with which a complement is formed that depends syntactically on another element of the sentence. Currently in Spanish we have the following: a, ante, bajo, con, contra, de, desde, during, in, between, towards, until, through, for, by, according to, without, on, after. They are also prepositions, although they are used less: pro (Luis is for human rights) and via (He flew to New York via Germany).
In addition, the following must be taken into account:
- Prepositions are words that do not change and have no gender (they are neither feminine nor masculine). They also have no number.
- They are unstressed words because they do not have an accent, except in “according” and the new preposition: “via”.
What are prepositions used for?
The purpose of prepositions is to connect or match with other words and thus better understand the relationship between those two words. For example, with the two words “car” and “Luis” you would put a preposition to understand it better; Luis’s car. On the other hand, if we use another preposition: “car for Luis”, the meaning and relationship of these two words changes. On the other hand, “from” indicates who owns the car, and “to” indicates that the car will be delivered to Luis.
Classification of prepositions
Next we are going to classify the prepositions so that you understand them better:
- Prepositions of place or space: in, under, through, towards, from.
- Prepositions of comparison: instead, too.
- Prepositions of time: during, afterhaving, before
- Prepositions that indicate possession: of.
- Composition or material prepositions: de, por.
- Prepositions that indicate an instrument or way of doing: by means of, a.
- Prepositions that indicate an agent: by, in, through.
- Prepositions that indicate a purpose: for, for.
- Prepositions that indicate cause: because of, because of.
- Prepositions that refer to something: about, in reference to, talking about.
Contraction of prepositions
In order to have all the complete information about prepositions, it is important to remember that “a” and “de” when they go before a specific masculine article, such as “el”, are contracted to form “al” and “del”.
Prepositional phrases
It is also important to remember that prepositional phrases are prepositions always composed of two or more words. For example: “in favor of”, “because of” or “next to”.
