41 Use of Word "DE" Flashcards
Possession
To express possession in Spanish, be sure to use the preposition de. For example, to say:
It’s Julio’s car in Spanish, you’d say
Es el coche de Julio.
Origin
De can also be used to express one’s origin — where that person comes from. If you want to tell someone that you’re from Panam you’d say: (I’m from Panama).
Soy de Panamá
Time
Like its fellow Spanish preposition a, de can be used to express a general time: (He doesn’t sleep at night).
No duerme de noche
Cause
Use de to show the reason why something has happened. For example, to express that He is failing from not studying, you’d say :
Fracasa de no estudiar
Material
De can also illustrate what something is made of. To describe a gold wedding band, you’d say (It’s a gold ring [literally, a “ring of gold”].)
Es un anillo de oro.
Characteristics
Use de to describe the characteristics of an object or person: (It’s of a good quality.)
Es de buena calidad.
Contents
To express the contents of an object, use de. For example, if you want to tell your coworker that you’re drinking a cup of coffee, simply say Bebo una taza de café. (I’m drinking a cup of coffee.)
Bebo una taza de café.
Relationship
You can also use de to indicate a relationship: (Madrid is the capital of Spain.)
Madrid es la capital de España.
If you want to express that one object is part of another, larger object, use de. So to state that She’s taking a piece of bread in Spanish, you’d say
Toma un trozo de pan.
A subject
De can also express the subject of something. For example, you’d say if you want to tell a friend I can’t find my art book.
No encuentro mi libro de arte
A superlative
To express a superlative comparison, use de: Es el más alto de todos. (He’s the tallest of them all.)
Es el más alto de todos.
