In the mid-seventies I studied at the University of Maryland European Campus located on the Naval Base of Rota, Cádiz. What was interesting about this venture into the American educational system, apart from paying an exorbitant amount of money for the Psychology and Sociology courses I took, is that I was able to earn credit for Spanish classes simply by taking the exams. They called it Credit by Examination. Instead of paying for four separate Spanish classes in order to earn 12 credits, I just paid to take four examinations.
I sailed through the first three examinations, receiving an A in each one. Yay! Fair chuffed, I then presented myself at the fourth examination. I did pass, but I only got a B. Want to know why I only got a B? It's because of the bloody prepositions! I was puzzled, befuddled, bemused, baffled and overwhelmed by these stupid little words. I didn't even care about them. I really did not pay too much attention at all to them when preparing for the exam. Yet, there they were, in a large section of the exam. I'm not great at multiple choice to begin with, but add to that my supreme lack of knowledge of the use of these damn prepositions, and you end up with a crazed lady about to scream, or at least hide underneath the desk.
Let’s have a look at a few funny little prepositions and their environment. Here are some stories of the world according to 'de'. Such a teeny tiny word, such an innocuous looking specimen, how could it possibly cause so many problems?! Partly it's because he's involved with other words and in so doing evolves into a prepositional phrase.
antes de dormir before sleeping
después de trabajar after working (Note the use of the infinitive in Spanish.)
al lado de next to
alrededor de around
cerca de near
That's what happens when you become embroiled with unsavoury characters. Yes, you change, you even lose your sense of self-worth. Why couldn't he just be straightforward and simple the way he is in this sentence?
Yo soy de Madrid. I am from Madrid.
Simple, straightforward, without complications. This is the way 'de' ought to be at all times. Absolutely.
¿De dónde eres? From where are you? Where are you from?
Now, here he is a little bit annoying in that he goes in front of the 'dónde', but I don't mind that at all. I really don't. I can handle this.
Probably one of the first uses of 'de' that you learned was for possession.
La muñeca de Ana. The doll of Ana. Ana's doll. (I know, you just want to say, "Ana's muñeca", don't you? Me too.)
El perro del señor. The dog of the man. The man's dog.
Where did 'del' come from?! It's the 'de + el' which becomes 'del',
Who can figure out what this means? ¿De quién es el lápiz?
Just when you think you’ve figured out this ‘de’ boy, he goes and tries to make himself all sophisticated and intriguing by hanging out with verbs.
acabar de Acabo de estudiar. I have just studied. (Oh really? What did you study? The preposition 'de'? Ha ha!)
dejar de Yo dejé de fumar. I stopped smoking. (Bet you didn't!)
tratar de Ella trató de llegar a tiempo. She tried to arrive on time.
alegrarse de Me alegro de verte. I'm happy to see you.
Why there's a need for these verbs to include 'de' is one of the many mysteries we all encounter. Perhaps our little 'de' is a great big strong lad that words just need to cling to in order to make sense? They can't survive on their own? Really and truly.
Now, ‘de’ isn’t the only cocky little word. Nope. How about ‘con’?
Look at him showing off in these sentences.
Hablo contigo. I speak with you.
Y tú hablas conmigo. And you speak with me. (So glad that we’re speaking to one another!)
Ella sueña con su novio. She dreams about her boyfriend. (She dreams with her boyfriend? That’s what it sounds like in English.)
Ella quiere casarse con su novio. She wants to marry her boyfriend. (If he makes her arrive on time and if she dreams about him, guess she might as well marry him. Don’t you think?)
An even tinier preposition, ‘a’, is equally perplexing, if you want my opinion. Here he is strutting his stuff.
Nosotros asistimos a la clase. We attend the class.
Ellos van a viajar este verano. They are going to travel this summer.
Yo juego al baloncesto. I play basketball. (Only kidding. I’m too short!)
Sometimes this ‘a’ fellow is there, and sometimes he isn’t. Not exactly a word that you can rely on, is he?! You think you’ve figured out what verbs need him, and then you come across sentences like this:
Yo visito Sevilla. I visit Seville.
Yo visito a mi abuela. I visit my gran.
You need the ‘a’ as it’s a person you’re visiting. This is the personal ‘a’.
Nosotros escuchamos la música. We listen to music.
Nosotros escuchamos a la profesora. We listen to the teacher.
That’s that personal ‘a’ again. He just suddenly turns up when you least expect him.
Don’t get me started on ‘por’!. He’s another one that should run away and hide behind the tail of that poor donkey standing forlornly in the field. Who needs ‘por’?! I personally got along very well without him and his cronies, until I took that Credit by Examination that is, way back in the mid-seventies.
Ella se desvivió por sacar una A pero recibió una B. She went out of her way/did her utmost to get an A but received a B.
Me preocupo por el examen. I worry about the exam.
I guess, if truth be told, I blew it. I should have taken into account at least some of the vagaries and whims of the Spanish prepositions when studying for the exam. Och.
Thank you for stopping by! If you’d like to read more about Spanish prepositions here's a useful link. And if you’d like to read about the seventies and eighties in Spain please click here
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