Some Spanish prepositions you’ll use almost without thinking, because they map neatly onto English, while others hide more than one trap even though they show up less often in everyday speech. In this second article, we round out the list with bajo, cabe, entre, hacia, según, sin, sobre and tras: some will already feel familiar, others deserve a bit more attention before you use them with confidence.

If you missed Part 1, covering a, de, en, con, ante, contra, desde and hasta, you’ll find it here.

9. Bajo

Bajo corresponds to “under,” and is used both literally and figuratively, to express a condition or circumstance under which something happens:

– Hicimos el examen bajo la atenta mirada del profesor.

This one’s easy for an English speaker, since its meaning almost always lines up with “under,” whether you’re talking about a physical object or a figurative kind of oversight or supervision.

10. Cabe

Cabe means roughly “next to” (“junto a”), but it’s now extremely rare — almost exclusively literary:

– Me gusta estar cabe el fuego.

You’ll barely ever need it in conversation, but it’s worth being able to recognise it if you come across older or more poetic Spanish texts. In everyday speech, it’s been almost entirely replaced by junto a or al lado de.

11. Entre

Entre covers what English splits into two different words — “between” for two things, “among” for more than two. Spanish doesn’t bother with that distinction, which actually makes life a little easier. It’s used to situate something in space or time relative to two or more reference points. Entre :

• places something in space or time relative to two or more reference points

– El bar está entre la carnicería y la pescadería.

• expresses collaboration or cooperation between two or more people

– Si lo hacemos entre todos terminaremos antes.

• works like a conjunction, in the sense of “between doing one thing and another”

– Entre discutir y actuar prefiero lo segundo.

• signals that something happens, without specifying exactly when, within a given period

– Terminaré este trabajo entre semana.

Heads up: the expression entre semana doesn’t mean “between the week” — it means “on weekdays,” as opposed to the weekend. It’s an idiomatic chunk worth memorising as-is, since translating it literally from English won’t get you there.

12. Hacia

Hacia corresponds to “toward(s)” when it comes to direction. Where it gets a little trickier is with approximate time — English tends to reach for “around” there instead, so hacia quietly covers both jobs that English splits into two words:

• the direction of a movement toward its endpoint

– Voy hacia tu casa.

• an approximate time or place

– Llegaron a casa hacia las seis.

Be careful not to mix up hacia with hasta: hacia signals an approximate direction (“toward”), while hasta signals a precise limit (“up to,” “as far as”). Voy hacia tu casa doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll actually get there, whereas voy hasta tu casa implies the trip ends right at that point.

13. Según

Según has two main uses, with very different levels of difficulty.

The first, and most common, corresponds almost exactly to “according to,” and expresses accordance or point of view:

– Según mi opinión, tiene dificultades en el aprendizaje.

The second use is less intuitive, because según no longer means “according to” here — it’s closer to “as,” in the sense of “in proportion as,” introducing an action that unfolds alongside another one, often followed by the subjunctive when talking about the future or a hypothetical:

– Según vayas ascendiendo en la carrera, te crearás más enemigos.

14. Sin

Sin corresponds to “without,” and is used in much the same way as in English. Sin:

• expresses the lack or absence of something

– Estoy sin un euro en este período.

• followed by an infinitive, it works as a negation

– Pasé toda la noche sin dormir.

• can mean “aside from” or “not counting”

– El coche nos salió por dos mil euros, sin el seguro.

Sin also appears in the set phrase sin embargo (“however,” “nevertheless”), very common in both writing and formal speech:

– No nos conocíamos, sin embargo, nos hicimos amigos enseguida.

15. Sobre

Sobre is one of the richest prepositions in this second part — a bit like de and en were in the first. Here’s the interesting part: English actually needs four different words to cover what Spanish packs into this one. Sobre can mean:

• “on top of,” physically

– Deja el documento sobre la mesa.

• “about,” as a topic

– ¿Qué opinas sobre la inmigración?

• “around,” for an approximate time or quantity

– Llegaré sobre las 5.

• “over,” in the sense of authority or dominance

– El rey manda sobre sus siervos con autoridad.

Heads up: it’s tempting to default to translating sobre as “on” every time, since that’s its most common meaning. But depending on context, it might actually mean “about,” “around,” or “over” — so let the sentence guide you rather than reaching for the same English word automatically.

16. Tras

Tras expresses what comes after something, in either space or time, and corresponds to “after” or “behind”:

– Tras el invierno viene la primavera.

This is a preposition typical of written and formal Spanish: in everyday speech, native speakers tend to prefer después de, but tras is still very common in newspaper headlines, literary texts and official speeches — a bit like how English sometimes reaches for “following” instead of the more everyday “after” in a formal register. Recognising it will mainly help you when reading.

The full picture

With this second part, we’ve now covered all the most important Spanish prepositions, from the most frequent ones like a, de, en and con to rarer ones like cabe and tras. As you’ve probably noticed, some prepositions (según, sin, entre) map almost directly onto English and shouldn’t cause much trouble, while others (sobre, hacia/hasta) need a bit more attention, since they pack into a single word distinctions that English keeps separate.

The advice stays the same as in Part 1: don’t just memorise the rules in the abstract — pay attention to how prepositions are actually used in Spanish texts, songs and TV shows. With practice, picking the right one will start to feel automatic.

Want to dig deeper?

Check out the full grammar reference on Las preposiciones in the Sillabi grammar resources: you’ll find every use, nuance and common set phrase gathered in one quick-reference tool, perfect to keep on hand while you study or work through exercises.

Ready to take your Spanish to the next level?

Knowing the rules is only the first step — using prepositions with confidence, without having to stop and think every time, takes consistent practice and a method that guides you step by step.

If you want to build a solid grammatical foundation and learn to speak Spanish naturally, check out the ¡Ojalá! course: a progressive, clear and motivating path designed to help you build real fluency, with activities, videos and practical explanations for everyday life.

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