Simple Prepositions Flashcards
de
“De” is the most used preposition in Spanish according to a Spanish corpus created by the linguist Mark Davies. This preposition is commonly used to express possession, nationality, subject, and cause. It can even be used to express what something is made of or the time in which something happened.
a
“To” or “at” in Spanish is “a“. It is used when the direct object of a verb is an animal or a person or something personified. We also use “a” to introduce an indirect object, to express time, to give an order, to indicate manner and motion.
en
“En” can be used to mean “in”, “on”, or “at” in Spanish, and it is used to indicate location and time. It is also used to indicate how people get to other places.
por
“Por” is used to express time, cause and gratitude. It can mean “for”, “because of”, or “by” in Spanish, and it is also used in multiplications.
para
“Para” is used to establish deadlines and to indicate purpose and destination.
con
“with” or “con” in Spanish can be used to indicate the instrument utilized to perform an action.
sin
“Without” or “sin” in Spanish expresses lack of something.
sobre
“Sobre” is used to indicate location. It also means “about”.
hasta
up to, until–“Hasta” denotes limit.
entre
“Entre” is used to express that someone or something is between, among or amid things.
desde
“Desde” denotes a point in time or place, and can mean “from” or “since” in Spanish.
hacia
“Toward” or “hacia” in Spanish is used to express a sense of movement.
contra
“Against” or “contra” in Spanish is used to express opposition.
bajo
“Bajo” expresses dependence or subordination, and means “under” in Spanish.
ante
Before–“Ante” means in the presence of.
según
“Según” is used to express the opinion of others. It can be used before names and pronouns, and means “according to” in Spanish.
tras
“Tras” is used express time and place, and can mean “after” or “behind” in Spanish. When it expresses time, it means that something happened after something else. When it expresses place, it means “behind”.
mediante
“Mediante” means through in Spanish.
durante
“During” is “durante” in Spanish. It expresses simultaneity.
versus
“Versus” is used to express opposition.
vía
“Vía” is used to express how something will be sent or received. It is also used to express the places in which a plane stopped.
cabe (no longer used in modern Spanish)
The preposition “cabe” was used in poetic language, and it means “close to” or “next to”.
so (no longer used in modern Spanish)
This preposition “so” was part of the prepositional phrase “so pena de”, which means “under the threat of”.
