Compound Prepositions and Tricky Choices
Beginner Spanish leans on six prepositions: de, a, en, con, por, para. Intermediate Spanish stacks them into bigger units and starts insisting on choices that English never makes. This page assumes you already know the basics (see Spanish Prepositions) and the por vs para split. Here we build beyond them.
Compound prepositions of place: the de family
Most Spanish prepositions of place are really adverbs bolted onto a noun with de. Delante means "in front" in the abstract; to say in front of something, you need delante de.
- El coche está delante de la casa. (The car is in front of the house.)
- El jardín está detrás de la casa. (The garden is behind the house.)
Drop the de and the phrase collapses: never delante la casa. And with a pronoun, the de stays and pulls in the strong pronoun, not the possessive:
- Estoy detrás de ti. (I'm behind you.)
- Se sentó delante de mí. (She sat in front of me.) - mí takes an accent to keep it apart from possessive mi.
The core set:
| Compound | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| delante de | in front of | delante de la puerta (in front of the door) |
| detrás de | behind | detrás de ti (behind you) |
| encima de | on top of / above | encima de la mesa (on top of the table) |
| debajo de | under / below | debajo de la cama (under the bed) |
| dentro de | inside | dentro de la caja (inside the box) |
| fuera de | outside | fuera de casa (outside the house) |
| cerca de | near | cerca de aquí (near here) |
| lejos de | far from | lejos de ti (far from you) |
| alrededor de | around | alrededor de la mesa (around the table) |
| frente de / enfrente de | opposite / facing | enfrente de la iglesia (opposite the church) |
| al lado de | next to | al lado de mí (next to me) |
Two take a rather than de: junto a (right next to) and frente a (facing). El hotel está frente al mar. (The hotel faces the sea.)
Compound prepositions of idea
Beyond place, a second family links ideas. These are worth learning as whole phrases, because the meaning does not fall out of the parts:
| Compound | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| a través de | through / via | Entró a través de la ventana. (through the window) |
| a pesar de | despite | A pesar de todo, ganamos. (despite everything) |
| además de | besides | Además de listo, es amable. (besides clever) |
| en lugar de / en vez de | instead of | En vez de café, tomé té. (instead of coffee) |
| en cuanto a | as for | En cuanto a mí, no voy. (as for me) |
| respecto a | regarding | Respecto a eso, tienes razón. (regarding that) |
| gracias a | thanks to | Gracias a ti, aprobé. (thanks to you) |
| debido a | owing to | Se canceló debido a la lluvia. (owing to the rain) |
| acerca de | about | Un libro acerca de la guerra. (about the war) |
The two "instead of" forms are interchangeable: en vez de and en lugar de both work. A pesar de is followed by a noun or an infinitive: a pesar de estar cansado, seguí (despite being tired, I carried on).
The a / en / de contrast
At B1 the three plainest prepositions divide up jobs English hands to one word. Think of a triangle: a for the target, en for the spot, de for the source.
- a marks direction and time points: voy a Madrid (movement towards), llego a las tres (a point in time).
- en marks location and means of transport: estoy en casa (where, sitting still), viajo en tren (and en coche, en avión). The odd ones out go with a: a pie (on foot), a caballo (on horseback).
- de marks origin, possession and material: soy de Madrid (where I started), el coche de Pedro (possession), una mesa de madera (material).
Line them up on one place and the split is obvious: voy a Madrid (heading there), estoy en Madrid (already there), soy de Madrid (came from there).
Verbs whose preposition is not the English one
Here is where careful learners still slip. A set of common verbs demand a fixed Spanish preposition that ignores the English one entirely. Translate the English preposition and you get it wrong every time, so learn the pair whole.
- soñar con - to dream of / about. Sueño con un mundo mejor. (I dream of a better world.) Not soñar de.
- pensar en - to think about. Pienso en ti. (I'm thinking about you.) Not pensar sobre for having someone in mind.
- depender de - to depend on. Depende de ti. (It depends on you.) Not depender en.
- consistir en - to consist of. El curso consiste en diez clases. (The course consists of ten lessons.) Not consistir de.
- contar con - to count on / rely on. Cuenta conmigo. (Count on me.) Not contar en.
- casarse con - to marry / get married to. Se casó con Ana. (He married Ana.) Not casarse a.
- quejarse de - to complain about. Se queja de todo. (He complains about everything.) Not quejarse sobre.
The pattern to internalise: the preposition belongs to the Spanish verb, not to the meaning. Soñar simply comes with con attached, the way depender comes with de. For a fuller list, see verbs with prepositions.
Common mistakes English speakers make
Dropping the de after a place word. Delante la casa, detrás mi coche and cerca el centro are all wrong. The de is compulsory: delante de la casa, detrás de mi coche, cerca del centro.
Using a possessive instead of a strong pronoun. Delante mi for "in front of me" is loose speech at best; the standard form is delante de mí, with de and the accented mí.
Translating the English verb preposition. "I dream about" becomes sueño sobre or sueño de in an English speaker's mouth; it is sueño con. Same trap with depender de and pensar en.
Muddling a, en and de for place. Estoy a casa for "I'm at home" (should be en casa), or voy en Madrid for "I'm going to Madrid" (should be voy a Madrid). Direction is a, location is en.
See also
- Spanish Prepositions - the basic uses of de, a, en, con and the al / del contractions this page builds on.
- Por vs Para - the other classic preposition split, cause versus goal.
- Verbs with prepositions - the fuller list of fixed verb-plus-preposition pairings.
- The Spanish grammar cheatsheet has the compound-preposition table on one card.