Ch 39 · Lesson 8Spanish · Chapter 39 · Lesson 8 · Grammar primer

Compound prepositions of place: delante de, encima de

, , : the is never optional, a pronoun after it is the strong form ( ), and , and are the one-word twins ( and more formal).

The short version

The in is not optional

He/She sat in front of me.

Why?

Most Spanish place prepositions are really adverbs bolted onto a noun with , and the is compulsory. , , . Drop it and the phrase collapses. With a pronoun the stays and pulls in the accented strong form, so it is (with the accent), not .

is under; is formal or abstract

Everything is under control.

Why?

For a cat under a table, say . is one word, more formal, and also covers the cases where nothing is physically on top: (in the rain), , .

A compound preposition is a word plus or a working as one preposition. The is never optional, and a pronoun after it is the strong form:

. - The car is in front of the house.
. - He/She sat in front of me.

Place: the de family

+ deWhat do the colours mean?

, and are adverbs. On their own they say where, with no noun:

. - The car is in front.
. - The car is in front of the house.

To name the thing, add . Drop it and the phrase is wrong: never .

Spanish	English
	in front of the door
	behind the house
	on top of the table
	under the bed
	inside the box
	away from home
	near the beach
	far from the city
	next to the house
	around the table
	opposite my house

Six small panels with a grey cat and a yellow box: the cat sits on the box; the cat sits under the box, which stands on legs like a little table; the cat pokes its head out of the open box; the cat sits beside the box; the cat peeks over the top from behind the box with its tail sticking out; the cat sits in front of the box.

and merge into , as they do everywhere:

. - I live near the centre.

Two that take a: junto a, frente a

+ aWhat do the colours mean?

. - He/She sat right by the window.
. - The hotel faces the sea.

With a pronoun: delante de mí

+ de+ athe strong pronounWhat do the colours mean?

After the the strong pronoun, the same one as after any preposition. Only and differ from the subject pronouns:

Person	Spanish	English
me		in front of me
you		behind you
him		near him
her		next to her
us		far from us
them		around them

carries an accent; without it means my. In speech you will hear and , but the RAE advises against them in careful Spanish. Write .

The two that take a work the same way: - right next to me.

Under, on, behind: bajo, sobre, tras

Three short prepositions shadow the compounds. and are more formal ( is everyday too), and they also cover abstract cases where the compound would be wrong:

Compound	One word	Example
		- under the table (formal)
(none)		- in the rain
(none)		- under control
		- on the table
		- a book about the war
		- behind the door (written)
		- after the meeting
(none)		- day after day

For a cat under a table, say . After another preposition, only works:

. - The cat came out from under the bed.

, and can all mean on. is the everyday choice; stresses on top of it.

Delante de or enfrente de

is directly in front; is opposite, across a street or a room:

. - The taxi is outside the hotel.
. - The chemist's is opposite the hotel.

Going further: Compound prepositions at a glance and the rest of the guide, when you want them. This lesson does not need them.

Read the full guide (optional) · 5 min read

Practice

Practise this lesson

10-question session

One question at a time, mixed across the exercises in this lesson. Miss one and it comes back round before the end.

Spanish · Free printables

Worksheets for this lesson

Worksheets with answer keys built in. Open any one to view, print or save.

Free for members

The printable worksheets, infographics and PDFs are free with an account. Start a free week and download as many as you like.

Start your free week

Lesson 8 of 29 in this chapter

Back to the curriculum

What do the colours mean?