Spanish Prepositions - and Why You Need to Get These Right!

by Damian M.

Spanish is an amazing language to learn, and is probably one of the easiest languages to lean for English speakers. However, at times it can get tricky - and this is when you need to know your stuff, or else it will come to haunt you later on.

In English, prepositions are straightforward. We use "for" a lot, from, to, through, etc. These are all easy to use, and often each one can be used for several ideas. Take for example the following two phrases:

"I am giving the book to Ana."
"We are going to Madrid."

In Spanish, while prepositions are used for different ideas, they are a lot more precise and it is important you choose the correct one when building your sentences. It is easy to mix up some of the prepositions and use the wrong one.

I'll introduce to you the basic - but most important - prepositions. Here we will look at "a", "para" and "por". These last two are ones that often cause trouble since both can sound, to one's ear, good in the same sentence.

The preposition "a" always means there is movement; we are usually going somewhere. It will also be used for time, distance and verb complements. See the examples below:

Movement: "Viajamos a Madrid." / We are travelling to Madrid.
Time: "Me acuesto a las siete." / I go to sleep at 7.
Distance: "Está a veinte minutes en coche." / It is 20 minutes away by car.
Complement: "Veo a Antonio." / I saw Antonio.

The preposition "por" is used for:

The preposition "para" is used for: IN ORDER TO =>

Now try some examples:

For more Spanish learning tips and tricks, visit my website at www.learntospeakspanishnow.com and get free Spanish tips and tricks.

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