De vs A Flashcards
Possession: To indicate possession or ownership.
Example: El libro [] Juan (Juan ‘s book).
De
Origin: To express origin or nationality.
Example: Soy [] México (I am from Mexico).
De
Material: To denote the material something is made of.
Example: Una mesa [] madera (A wooden table).
De
Content: To specify the content of something (topics, subjects, movies, tv shows, articles, magazines, etc).
Example: Una taza [] café (A cup of coffee)
Hablamos [] fútbol (we’re talking about football)- can be interchangeable with sobre
Ayer vimos una película [] terror (Yesterday we saw a scary movie)
De
Description: To provide a description or characteristic of something or someone.
Example: Un hombre [] pelo largo (A man with long hair). We can use “[]” as an alternative to “con”.
De
Relationship: To indicate relationships or connections between people.
Example: El hermano [] María (Maria ‘s brother).
De
Tired of
Cansado/a de
Comparison: To make comparisons.
Example: Es más alto [] lo que pensaba (He is taller than I thought).
De
Time: To express the time something happens.
Example: Salgo de casa a las 8 [] la mañana (I leave home at 8 in the morning).
Yo termino de trabajar a las 6 [] la tarde.
De
With specific dates
del-al
Me voy de vacaciones del 28 de Febrero al 7 de Marzo. (I’m going on vacations from February 28 to March 7).
With time, months and days of the week
de-a
Viajaré de Lunes a Domingo. (I will travel from Monday to Sunday).
We can use “[]” for destinations as well.
“de-a”
Yo viajaré de Phoenix a Los Ángeles la próxima semana.
Destinations:
We use this preposition when the location has no name or possessive (the location):
Ella va [] la oficina (She is going to the office).
A
al = masculine - Voy al gimnasio (I’m going to the gym).
a la = feminine - Ella va a la oficina (She is going to the office).
We use this when the location has a name (country, continent, city, store, restaurant, etc.):
El próximo mes iré [] Cancún.
a + name of the location:
El próximo mes iré a Cancún.
We use this when the location has a possessive:
Vamos [] mi casa. (Let’s go to my house).
a + possessive + location:
Vamos a mi casa. (Let’s go to my house).
Vamos a tu oficina. (Let’s go to your office).
Ellos fueron a su coche. (They went to his car).
