Questions tagged [preposiciones]
Palabras que introducen términos con los que forman grupo sintáctico. // Function words such as "a", "de", "en", "por", "para", "sin", or "sobre".
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Difference between "por" and "para"
Even after taking 4 years of college Spanish and living abroad, I still don't have a very firm control of when to use por or para. What are the basic rules on when to use either.
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"Vaso de agua" or "vaso con agua"? Which is correct?
English
What's the correct way to express that something "serves as a container for something else"?
Example:
¿Quieres un vaso de/con agua?
Should we use de or con? Are both correct? Why?
If we ...
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What is the history of the "personal a"?
What is the historical origin of the "personal a" in Spanish?
Examples of the personal a:
George sees Mary. -> Jorge ve a María.
I see the waitress. -> Veo a la mesera.
But with the exact same ...
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Why do we use "conmigo" but not "sinmigo"?
In Spanish we typically use "conmigo" for "with me" but "sin mí" for "without me".
What are the origins of the word "conmigo"? How did it come to be preferred over "con mí"? Why do we continue to ...
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What's the difference between "debe de" y "debe"?
Is there any difference? What's their usage? When should one be used instead of the other one?
Examples:
El niño debe de hacer su tarea.
El niño debe hacer su tarea.
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Why is the cycle race called La Vuelta "a" España, not "de"?
The title says it all really. Before we started using the vernacular names we always called it the tour of Spain.
What is this?
a. not really understood by Spanish speakers as a tour belonging to ...
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Are there any differences between "de nada" and "por nada"?
Most of the time in all the Spanish speaking countries I've been in I've heard de nada as the reply to gracias or the equivalent of English you're welcome etc.
But after a while I became conscious ...
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What is the difference between "abajo," "debajo," and "bajo?"
I see some conflicting information out there on the web regarding this topic, especially with regard to which of these can and cannot pair with "de." I wrote a post on it, but when I ...
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Mayúsculas en apellidos con preposiciones
Siempre he tenido una confusion con los apellidos con preposiciones, tales como: "de los Santos, de la Rosa, del Carmen".
Mi pregunta es si estos se deben escribir como se indica arriba o si las ...
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Why do oler and saber take the preposition "a"?
As an English speaker learning Spanish, I was always a little confused that it smells and tastes "to" something rather than "of" something:
Huele a humo.
Sabe a ajo.
I would think of "a" as implying ...
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Choosing between 'sobre' and 'acerca de'
Is there a significant difference between "sobre" and "acerca de", when the intent is to describe the topic of something?
Where is "acerca de" a better choice than "sobre", and vice-versa?
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Unclear why to use "A vuestros hijos" instead of "vuestros hijos"
I have the following sentence in English
Do your children like to read?
Which translates to Spanish:
¿ A vuestros hijos les gusta leer?
To me it is unclear, why I have to use "A vuestros" in ...
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Cerca vs. acerca vs. cercano
What is the exact difference between these words? If I were to translate, for instance, “I am near the bank”, which one of the following would be the best way to go and why:
Estoy cerca del banco.
...
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When to add prepositions before an infinitive verb (por/para/a/de)?
With the infinitive form of a verb in English, (e.g. to speak), the word 'to' seems to convey a specific meaning where, in Spanish, an additional preposition is used in some cases.
Examples:
I can ...
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How to say instead (when at the end of a sentence)
I know how to say,
Do Y instead of X
using 'en vez de' or en 'lugar de'
But how should I say something like
Learn Spanish instead.
Can I end a sentence with 'instead' or must I always specify ...
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Two nouns in a row, or, is it OK to omit "de"?
Two or more nouns are sometimes used consecutively, with the second modifying the first.
For instance, I recently received a mail whose subject was "Honorarios migración." This is, I suppose, ...
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Why do we not need "por" in the sentence "Llevo estudiando español 2 años."
I want to ask a question about the preposition "por" in Spanish.
I was learning about the uses of the verbs llevar, seguir and continuar with the gerunds of verbs e.g.
Llevo estudiando ...
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"cerca de" vs. "cerca a"
On the Duolingo app for learning Spanish, there is a test question that prompts the user to translate The train station is close to the university. to Spanish. I entered...
La estación de tren ...
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Por y Para for Recipients
I've heard por and para both being used to indicate recipients:
Mi amor es por ti
Este regalo es para ti
In what situations regarding recipients are por and para usually used?
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Se hizo una prueba y dio positivo ¿en COVID? ¿por COVID? ¿a COVID? ¿de COVID?
En estos tiempos de pandemia, es lamentablemente cada vez más común leer artículos sobre personajes famosos que han dado positivo en una u otra prueba de COVID-19. Sin embargo, parece que los ...
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¿Es correcto usar dos preposiciones iguales seguidas?
Tengo una duda con respecto al uso de preposiciones en la que mi cerebro lingüístico me dice una cosa, y mi cerebro lógico me dice otra.
Os lo explico con un ejemplo.
El verbo depender viene siempre ...
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Why "a favor" and "en contra" use such particular different prepositions?
The other day I was talking to someone who is learning Spanish, and she said, amid an expression, "en favor o a contra", instead of "a favor o en contra". After correcting her, she asked me why the ...
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What is the "a" in ¿"A dónde vamos?"?
I've been studying the "a" in spanish and how it's used. The 2 ways I've seen so far Re:
Between a verb and an infinitive like: "voy a llamar."
Between a verb and a direct object ...
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Why is "a" needed in "Jugaba al tenis todos los días"?
In the sentence, "Jugaba al tenis todos los días cuando era más joven" why is it "al" over "el"? "Why is "a" needed?
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¿Qué significa la frase "de por sí"? / What does "de por sí" mean?
Leyendo el libro "El Fuego y La Palabra: Una Historia del Movimiento Zapatista" uno de los artículos contiene este texto:
El compañero insurgente llegó con un folleto que tenía una explicación ...
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Why is "a" used in "El olor 'a' las enchiladas circula" instead of "de"?
I recently came across a question in one of my self-study workbooks asking me to translate this sentence:
The smell of enchiladas circulates through the house.
I put:
El olor de las enchiladas ...
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'Se me van encoger' o 'se me van a encoger'
Me gustaría saber si alguien sabe cuál es la forma correcta de expresar algo que se encogerá:
'Se me van encoger' o 'Se me van a encoger'
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Using the "a" preposition with "echar de menos" and a personal object
I'm a bit fuzzy on how the "personal a" works in Spanish, for example in this passage from Harry Potter y la Cámara Secreta:
Nunca se había sentido tan solo. Antes que ninguna otra cosa de Hogwarts,...
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¿Es correcto usar dos "comos" y decir "tanto como X como como Y"?
Supongamos que queremos utilizar la expresión Tanto X como Y, por ejemplo:
Me gustan tanto el chocolate como los garbanzos
Es decir, que me refiero a ambas cosas por igual. Vale, esto me suena ...
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¿Es correcto decir "condenado a de tres a diez años de cárcel"?
Leí ayer una noticia que se titulaba:
Bill Cosby, condenado de tres a diez años de cárcel por agresión sexual
El País, 25 de septiembre de 2018
Pasado el rato se cambió por el actual:
Bill Cosby, ...
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Usage of the compound preposition "para con"
Wikipedia mentions that para con is rarely used, but I hear it often enough to warrant this question.
On the other hand, the Wikipedia article references the Diccionario panhispánico de dudas with ...
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¿Debo usar la 'a personal' con un personaje antropomorfo?
Se usa la a personal cuando el objeto es una persona.
E.g.: Veo a mi hermana. (No se dice "Veo mi hermana.")
¿Se usa la a personal con personajes antropomorfos que no son humanos?
E.g.: ¿Cuáles ...
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Spanish phrasal verbs
Español
La característica más difícil del idioma inglés (al menos en mi caso particular) son los "Phrasal verbs".
Hoy me encontré una oración en un periódico que me hizo pensar sobre la existencia ...
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What "en..., a... de... de... yo" means in Spanish application form?
I've got an application form in Spanish, which starts with
En.................., a.... de.... de .........
Yo,............................................
(Profesion u oficio).........domiciliado en.....
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Difference between 'trabajar para' and 'trabajar por'
I know the difference between por and para, but I'm confused by these particular usages. I've seen both of them in various places. 'Trabajar para' seems to mean to work for, whereas 'trabajar por' ...
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"Fuimos al mercado por pan." Why not para?
This link summarizes por and para usage rules and lists the following sentence under por in the category "cause, reason, or motive of an action".
Fuimos al mercado por pan
Why isn't para ...
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¿Cuál es la mejor manera de traducir "I'm voting to close as off-topic..."?
En Stack Overflow en español estamos traduciendo la interfaz para que los textos originales de Stack Overflow en inglés aparezcan en castellano.
Hace unos días, yo propuse que la traducción de:
I'm ...
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«Cuidar que ...» vs «Cuidar de que ...»
The dictionary entry for cuidar shows uses of it both with and without de:
cuidar
tr. Poner diligencia, atención y solicitud en la ejecución de algo.
tr. Asistir, guardar, conservar. Cuidar a un ...
user13628
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Why "de" is used instead of "con" when saying that 'you're in love with someone'?
Why in the below sentence does it use "de la" instead of "con la"? Is there rule when to do so?
Me han dicho que estás enamorado de la nueva secretaria.
That is:
They told me that you're in ...
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Why do some write an "a" after the verb "convocar" and others omit it?
The other day I was reading something that had a conjugated form of the verb "convocar" in it. (The exact phrase was convoca a los estados americanos.)
Though I'm familiar with the word, I ...
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Use of “al sol” vs “en el sol”
I was reading an Instagram caption that said “intimate dialogues in the sun” in Spanish “diálogos íntimos al sol.” This made no sense to me and I am a Spanish speaker. Doesn’t this translate to “...
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What's the difference between "estar ansioso de" and "estar ansioso por"?
I know that both 'estar ansioso de' and 'estar ansioso por' mean to be excited for something or looking forward to it, but how do I decide which one to use? Do the two have slightly different meanings?...
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When to use 'a' and when to use 'para'?
Es correcto decir 'Voy a Chicago' y 'Voy para Chicago' (I'm going to Chicago)?
If so , how and when 'a' and 'para' are different?
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¿Por qué, en contexto religioso, se sustituye le preposición "con" por "en"?
Encuentro muchas frases como "regocijaos en el Señor" o "unidos en el Señor" pero los mismos verbos se usarían con la preposición "con" en otros contextos. Algunos ejemplos: "regocijaos con tus hijos" ...
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«En el quinto día» vs. «Al quinto día» ¿Qué diferencia hay?
Si uno quiere decir:
"On the fifth day...."
¿Hay una diferencia entre estas dos frases?
En el quinto día...
Al quinto día...
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What is the difference between using "por" for causation/reason and "para" for purpose?
I understand a lot of the uses of por and para. But there is a certain context that I am having trouble on. I get the feeling that causation/reason is for things that are going to happen and have ...
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A la mañana / De la mañana / En la mañana / Por la mañana
Objective
Clarification on the differences among A la mañana / De la mañana / En la mañana / Por la mañana.
This is more of a memo of what I learned but I also appreciate any suggestions/feedback.
'...
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Más de lo normal / Más que lo normal
¿Debería usar "que" o "de" en los siguientes contextos?
Estos días estoy más cansado de/que lo normal.
Últimamente, he trabajado más de/que lo normal.
Pienso que debería ser "que" porque es ...
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Necesitar / Necesitar de?
When to use "necesitar" as a transitive verb.
And when to use "necesitar de"?
I can find "requerir" and "requerir de" listed in the dictionary, telling us that "requerir de" is more formal, but no "...
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Should I eat my apple? Usage of the preposition "en"
English:
I have seen the Spanish preposition "en" used in various ways in my studies. For example:
Ella pone la ropa en la cama.
She puts the clothes on the bed
or
Tengo gozo en mi ...
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