In short

Prepositions are little linking words — a, de, en, con, sin… Spanish maps them differently from English; the key A1 contrast is a for motion toward and en for location (“in / on / at”).

The rule

Learn the core prepositions by their main job, and expect them not to translate one-to-one from English.

• a - direction / destination (“to”), clock time (a las tres), and rate — how often per period: tres veces a la semana, una vez al año (the period stays singular). It also marks a specific person as object (the “personal a”: Veo a María), covered fully in lesson 21.
• de - origin (“from”), possession (“of”), material (“made of”): Soy de México, el libro de Ana, una mesa de madera.
• en - “in / on / at” for location, and means of transport: en coche, en tren, en avión (but a pie, “on foot”).
• con - “with”; it fuses into conmigo, contigo and the reflexive consigo, but with anyone else it does not: con él, con usted, con ellas.
• sin (without), sobre (on / about), entre (between / among), hasta (until / up to), desde (from / since), hacia (toward).

Two obligatory contractions. a + el -> al, de + el -> del: Voy al cine, Vengo del trabajo. They never happen with él (“he”): el regalo de él.

Place words need de. debajo (under), encima (on top of), delante / detrás (in front of / behind), cerca / lejos (near / far), dentro / fuera (inside / outside) are not prepositions on their own — before a noun add de: debajo de la mesa. That de then behaves like any other: encima del armario, delante de mí.

a vs en — the classic trap. Use a for movement to a place and en for being in a place: Voy a Madrid / Estoy en Madrid.

Verb + preposition. Many verbs lock to one preposition — learn them as a unit: pensar en (think about), soñar con (dream of), depender de (depend on). The pair por / para (the two “for”) is important enough to get its own lesson (33).

Forms & patterns

Contractions (mandatory):

Pronouns after a preposition:

Consigo is reflexive: it points back at the subject — Lleva las llaves consigo (“he carries them on him”). For a different person nothing fuses: con él, con usted, con ellas.

Core prepositions at a glance:

Examples

Common mistakes

• Voy en Madrid -> Voy a Madrid - movement to a place uses a; en is for being located there (Estoy en Madrid).
• de el coche -> del coche - a + el and de + el must contract to al / del.
• Pienso de ti -> Pienso en ti - pensar takes en for “think about”; pensar de only means “have an opinion of”.
• con mí -> conmigo - con fuses with mí / ti / sí into conmigo, contigo, consigo.
• para yo -> para mí - after a preposition use mí / ti, not the subject pronouns yo / tú.
• Voy consigo -> Voy con él - consigo only means “with himself / herself / themselves / yourself”; a different person takes con él / ella / usted / ellos.
• encima la mesa -> encima de la mesa - the place words are two-part and end in de: encima de, debajo de, delante de…

Tips

• The big one: a = motion to, en = position in / at. ir, venir, llegar take a; estar, vivir, quedarse take en.
• Only two contractions exist and both are compulsory: a + el = al, de + el = del — never with él (he).
• One Spanish en covers English “in”, “on” and “at” for a place — a single word does all three.
• Don’t translate prepositions one at a time; store verb + preposition as a chunk: pensar en, soñar con, depender de, casarse con.
• After a preposition the pronoun shifts to mí, ti (but conmigo, contigo); everything else (él, ella, nosotros…) stays the same.