If you’re learning Spanish, you’ve probably already paused mid-sentence wondering which little word to use where an English speaker wouldn’t think twice. Prepositions are exactly that: tiny words, often a single syllable, that completely change the meaning of a sentence. They’re invariable, they never conjugate, and yet they’re among the trickiest things to master in a foreign language, because they rarely line up with the way English does things.

Spanish has several prepositions, and a some of them come up so often that you can’t build even a basic sentence without running into them. That’s why we’ve decided to split this topic into two articles: in this first part, we’ll cover the prepositions that are most common and that cause the most confusion for English speakers — a, de, en, con, ante, contra, desde and hasta — while the second part will round out the picture with the rest. Let’s get started.

1. A

The preposition a is one of the most versatile and frequent in all of Spanish. It’s used to express:

• destination or direction

– Voy a Murcia en Semana Santa.

• distance

– Mi casa está a 20 kilómetros del centro.

• time

– A las 9 y media hemos quedado delante del cine.

• price, when it’s variable

– Las patatas están a 2 euros el kilo.

• the person receiving the action

– Le han dicho a Juan que lo van a despedir.

• the way something is done

– Ahora muchas reuniones de trabajo se hacen a distancia.

• the purpose or goal of an action

– Voy a comprar el pan.

A very common mistake among English speakers is forgetting what’s called the “a personal“: in Spanish, you always place a before a direct object when that object is a person — something English has no real equivalent for. So you say Veo a mi hermana, never Veo mi hermana. It feels redundant to an English speaker, since we’d never insert an extra word before “my sister” in “I see my sister,” but skipping it is one of the fastest ways to sound non-native in Spanish. It’s worth drilling until it becomes automatic.

2. De

If a is versatile, de is even more so: it’s probably the Spanish preposition with the widest range of uses. Here are the main ones:

• origin

– Esa chica rubia es de Valencia, su novio también es valenciano.

• possession

– Esta casa es de mis padres y aquélla es de mis abuelos.

• the time of day something happens

– El sol sale de día y se esconde de noche.

• material

– El jersey no es de lana, es de algodón.

• a person’s quality or condition

– Es una persona de mucho carácter que proviene de buena familia.

• manner

– Durante la boda estuvimos de pie porque fue mucha gente a la iglesia.

Heads up: English often skips the preposition entirely for material and turns it into a compound noun instead — we say “a wool jumper,” not “a jumper of wool.” Spanish, by contrast, always keeps de: jersey de lana. Don’t be tempted to drop it just because English would.

De also shows up in a number of set phrases that are extremely common in everyday speech, like ¿De verdad? or De haberlo sabido…. These are best learned as fixed chunks rather than pieced together word by word.

3. En

En is one of the most frequently used prepositions in Spanish. It expresses:

• place or position

– Ahora mi madre no está en casa. ¿Puede llamarla más tarde?

• area of knowledge or specialisation

– Soy licenciado en Matemáticas.

• manner

– Si se hace este trabajo se hace en serio.

• means of transport (en coche / avión / tren / bicicleta / metro)

– He venido en moto porque hay huelga de transportes.

Exception: when the “means of transport” is your own two feet or a horse, Spanish switches to a instead of en: a pie, a caballo.

• a point in time

– La primera edición del libro fue en 1987.

Heads up: when it comes to transport, English says “by bus,” “by car,” “by plane,” using by, while Spanish always uses en: en autobús, en coche, en avión. If you catch yourself reaching for por here out of habit, that’s the moment to stop and correct it.

The expressions en general, en absoluto and en serio are also worth memorising as fixed blocks.

4. Con

Con is, among the prepositions in this first part, the most intuitive for an English speaker, since its use closely mirrors “with.” It’s used to express:

• company

– Voy a cenar con tu hermana.

• relationship

– Si hablo con mi jefe te lo digo.

• the means by which an action is carried out

– Iré a tu casa con el coche de Luisa, el mío está roto.

A less obvious but rather elegant use is before an infinitive, where con takes on a value close to our “-ing” form:

– No hace falta que escribas mucho, con escribir unas letras es suficiente.

5. Ante

Ante corresponds to “before” or “in the presence of,” and is used mostly in formal or solemn contexts:

• a synonym of “delante de,” “en presencia de,” “frente a”

– Se presentaron ante la justicia.

• a sense of priority, meaning “above all”

– Ante todo hay que pensar en las mejores soluciones para no despedir a los empleados.

It’s not a preposition you’ll hear constantly in casual conversation, but you’ll come across it often in news articles, formal speeches and professional contexts — think of it as sitting somewhere between “before” and “in the face of” in tone.

6. Contra

Contra can express:

• opposition, disagreement

– Estamos en contra de la nueva reforma.

• a collision or clash

– Tuvo un accidente contra otro coche en la autopista.

It’s an easy preposition to use, since its meaning lines up almost perfectly with English “against.”

7. Desde

Desde marks the beginning of an action or period, similar to English “since” — with one key difference worth flagging. It can express:

• the start of something

– Desde que la vi no he vuelto a hablar con ella.

• a starting point in space or time

– Estaré de viaje desde el 15.
– Desde Rusia hasta Roma hay demasiados kilómetros para ir en coche.

Heads up: English splits this idea into two different words — “since” for time and “from” for space or origin — while Spanish uses desde for both. So desde Rusia means “from Russia,” not “since Russia,” even though the same word covers both cases in Spanish.

Desde also appears in expressions that are extremely common in spoken Spanish, like desde luego (of course) or desde entonces (since then, from then on):

– En verano,desde luego que nos vamos a la playa.
– Mi marido me dejó el año pasado, desde entonces no he salido con nadie.

8. Hasta

Hasta marks:

• the limit of actions, quantities and time

– Fui hasta su puerta, pero no me atreví a llamar.

• something considered surprising, meaning “even”

– Hasta a mi madre le gusta ese juego.

Just like with desde, English splits this concept: “until” for time, “as far as” or “up to” for space and quantity. Spanish only needs one word, hasta, for all of it — which makes life easier once you get used to it.

One more thing worth flagging: Spanish farewells with hasta aren’t all equivalent in tone.

• Hasta luego and hasta siempre are warm and friendly (the second one implies the person will always be welcome back).
• Hasta nunca, by contrast, signals a real break — anger, and a wish never to see that person again. Don’t use it as a casual goodbye.

A first step toward mastering prepositions

As you’ve probably noticed, each preposition has its own internal logic — sometimes it lines up neatly with English (like con, or the “live in” pattern with en), and sometimes it doesn’t at all (like the way desde and hasta absorb distinctions English keeps separate). The best strategy isn’t to translate word for word from English, but to start “thinking” your sentences directly in Spanish. With practice, using a, de, en, con and the rest correctly will start to feel automatic.

In Part 2, we’ll complete the picture with the remaining Spanish prepositions — including entre, hacia, según, sin, sobre and tras — so keep an eye on the blog so you don’t miss it.

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.

And if you’re not sure where to start, take our level test now: in just a few minutes, it’ll show you the best point in the course to begin.