{"id":3128,"date":"2026-10-05T12:52:56","date_gmt":"2026-10-05T10:52:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sillabi.com\/?p=3128"},"modified":"2026-10-05T12:55:38","modified_gmt":"2026-10-05T10:55:38","slug":"spanish-prepositions-part-2-bajo-cabe-entre-hacia-segun-sin-sobre-and-tras","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sillabi.com\/en\/spanish-prepositions-part-2-bajo-cabe-entre-hacia-segun-sin-sobre-and-tras\/","title":{"rendered":"Spanish Prepositions (Part 2): bajo, cabe, entre, hacia, seg\u00fan, sin, sobre and tras"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Some Spanish prepositions you&#8217;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 <em>bajo, cabe, entre, hacia, seg\u00fan, sin, sobre<\/em> and <em>tras<\/em>: some will already feel familiar, others deserve a bit more attention before you use them with confidence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you missed Part 1, covering <em>a, de, en, con, ante, contra, desde<\/em> and <em>hasta<\/em>, you&#8217;ll find it <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sillabi.com\/en\/spanish-prepositions-part-1-a-de-en-con-ante-contra-desde-and-hasta\/\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"538\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sillabi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Preposiciones-2-2-1024x538.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3129\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sillabi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Preposiciones-2-2-1024x538.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.sillabi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Preposiciones-2-2-300x158.png 300w, https:\/\/www.sillabi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Preposiciones-2-2-768x403.png 768w, https:\/\/www.sillabi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Preposiciones-2-2.png 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">9. <em>Bajo<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>Bajo<\/em> <\/strong>corresponds to &#8220;under,&#8221; and is used both literally and figuratively, to express a condition or circumstance under which something happens:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);color:#135b79\" class=\"has-inline-color\">&#8211; <em>Hicimos el examen <strong>bajo <\/strong>la atenta mirada del profesor.<\/em><\/mark><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>This one&#8217;s easy for an English speaker, since its meaning almost always lines up with &#8220;under,&#8221; whether you&#8217;re talking about a physical object or a figurative kind of oversight or supervision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">10. <em>Cabe<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>Cabe<\/em> <\/strong>means roughly &#8220;next to&#8221; (&#8220;junto a&#8221;), but it&#8217;s now extremely rare \u2014 almost exclusively literary:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);color:#135b79\" class=\"has-inline-color\">&#8211; <em>Me gusta estar <strong>cabe <\/strong>el fuego.<\/em><\/mark><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You&#8217;ll barely ever need it in conversation, but it&#8217;s worth being able to recognise it if you come across older or more poetic Spanish texts. In everyday speech, it&#8217;s been almost entirely replaced by <em>junto a<\/em> or <em>al lado de<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">11. <em>Entre<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>Entre<\/em> <\/strong>covers what English splits into two different words \u2014 &#8220;between&#8221; for two things, &#8220;among&#8221; for more than two. Spanish doesn&#8217;t bother with that distinction, which actually makes life a little easier. It&#8217;s used to situate something in space or time relative to two or more reference points. <em>Entre <\/em>: <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>places something in space or time relative to two or more reference points<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><em><em><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);color:#135b79\" class=\"has-inline-color\">&#8211; <em>El bar est\u00e1 <strong>entre <\/strong>la carnicer\u00eda y la pescader\u00eda.<\/em><\/mark><\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>expresses collaboration or cooperation between two or more people<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><em><em><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);color:#135b79\" class=\"has-inline-color\">&#8211; <em>Si lo hacemos <\/em><\/mark><\/em><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);color:#135b79\" class=\"has-inline-color\"><em><strong>entre <\/strong><\/em><\/mark><em><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);color:#135b79\" class=\"has-inline-color\"><em>todos terminaremos antes.<\/em><\/mark><\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>works like a conjunction, in the sense of &#8220;between doing one thing and another&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><em><em><mark style=\"background-color:#ffffff;color:#135b79\" class=\"has-inline-color\">&#8211; <em><strong>Entre <\/strong>discutir y actuar prefiero lo segundo.<\/em><\/mark><\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>signals that something happens, without specifying exactly when, within a given period<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><em><em><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);color:#135b79\" class=\"has-inline-color\">&#8211; <em>Terminar\u00e9 este trabajo <strong>entre <\/strong>semana.<\/em><\/mark><\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Heads up<\/strong>: the expression <em>entre semana<\/em> doesn&#8217;t mean &#8220;between the week&#8221; \u2014 it means &#8220;on weekdays,&#8221; as opposed to the weekend. It&#8217;s an idiomatic chunk worth memorising as-is, since translating it literally from English won&#8217;t get you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">12. <em>Hacia<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>Hacia<\/em> <\/strong>corresponds to &#8220;toward(s)&#8221; when it comes to direction. Where it gets a little trickier is with approximate time \u2014 English tends to reach for &#8220;around&#8221; there instead, so <em>hacia<\/em> quietly covers both jobs that English splits into two words:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>the direction of a movement toward its endpoint<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><em><em><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);color:#135b79\" class=\"has-inline-color\">&#8211; <em>Voy <strong>hacia <\/strong>tu casa.<\/em><\/mark><\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>an approximate time or place<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><em><em><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);color:#135b79\" class=\"has-inline-color\">&#8211; <em>Llegaron a casa <strong>hacia <\/strong>las seis.<\/em><\/mark><\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Be careful not to mix up <em>hacia<\/em> with <em>hasta<\/em>: <em>hacia<\/em> signals an approximate direction (&#8220;toward&#8221;), while <em>hasta<\/em> signals a precise limit (&#8220;up to,&#8221; &#8220;as far as&#8221;). <em>Voy hacia tu casa<\/em> doesn&#8217;t necessarily mean you&#8217;ll actually get there, whereas <em>voy hasta tu casa<\/em> implies the trip ends right at that point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">13. <em>Seg\u00fan<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>Seg\u00fan<\/em> <\/strong>has two main uses, with very different levels of difficulty. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The first, and most common, corresponds almost exactly to &#8220;according to,&#8221; and expresses accordance or point of view:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em><em><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);color:#135b79\" class=\"has-inline-color\">&#8211; <strong>Seg\u00fan <\/strong>mi opini\u00f3n, tiene dificultades en el aprendizaje.<\/mark><\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The second use is less intuitive, because <em>seg\u00fan<\/em> no longer means &#8220;according to&#8221; here \u2014 it&#8217;s closer to &#8220;as,&#8221; in the sense of &#8220;in proportion as,&#8221; introducing an action that unfolds alongside another one, often followed by the subjunctive when talking about the future or a hypothetical: <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);color:#135b79\" class=\"has-inline-color\">&#8211; <em><strong>Seg\u00fan <\/strong>vayas ascendiendo en la carrera, te crear\u00e1s m\u00e1s enemigos.<\/em><\/mark><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">14. <em>Sin<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>Sin<\/em> <\/strong>corresponds to &#8220;without,&#8221; and is used in much the same way as in English. <em>Sin: <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>expresses the lack or absence of something<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><em><em><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);color:#135b79\" class=\"has-inline-color\">&#8211; <em>Estoy <strong>sin <\/strong>un euro en este per\u00edodo.<\/em><\/mark><\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>followed by an infinitive, it works as a negation<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><em><em><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);color:#135b79\" class=\"has-inline-color\">&#8211; <em>Pas\u00e9 toda la noche <strong>sin <\/strong>dormir.<\/em><\/mark><\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>can mean &#8220;aside from&#8221; or &#8220;not counting&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><em><em><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);color:#135b79\" class=\"has-inline-color\">&#8211; <em>El coche nos sali\u00f3 por dos mil euros, <strong>sin <\/strong>el seguro.<\/em><\/mark><\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Sin<\/em> also appears in the set phrase <em>sin embargo<\/em> (&#8220;however,&#8221; &#8220;nevertheless&#8221;), very common in both writing and formal speech:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);color:#135b79\" class=\"has-inline-color\">&#8211; <em>No nos conoc\u00edamos, <strong>sin embargo<\/strong>, nos hicimos amigos enseguida.<\/em><\/mark><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">15. <em>Sobre<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>Sobre<\/em> <\/strong>is one of the richest prepositions in this second part \u2014 a bit like <em>de<\/em> and <em>en<\/em> were in the first. Here&#8217;s the interesting part: English actually needs four different words to cover what Spanish packs into this one. <em>Sobre<\/em> can mean:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>&#8220;on top of,&#8221; physically<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><em><em><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);color:#135b79\" class=\"has-inline-color\">&#8211; <em>Deja el documento <strong>sobre <\/strong>la mesa.<\/em><\/mark><\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>&#8220;about,&#8221; as a topic<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><em><em><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);color:#135b79\" class=\"has-inline-color\">&#8211; <em>\u00bfQu\u00e9 opinas <strong>sobre <\/strong>la inmigraci\u00f3n?<\/em><\/mark><\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>&#8220;around,&#8221; for an approximate time or quantity<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><em><em><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);color:#135b79\" class=\"has-inline-color\">&#8211; <em>Llegar\u00e9 <strong>sobre <\/strong>las 5.<\/em><\/mark><\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>&#8220;over,&#8221; in the sense of authority or dominance<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><em><em><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);color:#135b79\" class=\"has-inline-color\">&#8211; <em>El rey manda <strong>sobre <\/strong>sus siervos con autoridad.<\/em><\/mark><\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Heads up<\/strong>: it&#8217;s tempting to default to translating <em>sobre<\/em> as &#8220;on&#8221; every time, since that&#8217;s its most common meaning. But depending on context, it might actually mean &#8220;about,&#8221; &#8220;around,&#8221; or &#8220;over&#8221; \u2014 so let the sentence guide you rather than reaching for the same English word automatically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">16. <em>Tras<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>Tras<\/em> <\/strong>expresses what comes after something, in either space or time, and corresponds to &#8220;after&#8221; or &#8220;behind&#8221;:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);color:#135b79\" class=\"has-inline-color\">&#8211; <em><strong>Tras <\/strong>el invierno viene la primavera.<\/em><\/mark><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is a preposition typical of written and formal Spanish: in everyday speech, native speakers tend to prefer <em>despu\u00e9s de<\/em>, but <em>tras<\/em> is still very common in newspaper headlines, literary texts and official speeches \u2014 a bit like how English sometimes reaches for &#8220;following&#8221; instead of the more everyday &#8220;after&#8221; in a formal register. Recognising it will mainly help you when reading.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The full picture<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>With this second part, we&#8217;ve now covered all the most important Spanish prepositions, from the most frequent ones like <em>a, de, en<\/em> and <em>con<\/em> to rarer ones like <em>cabe<\/em> and <em>tras<\/em>. As you&#8217;ve probably noticed, some prepositions (<em>seg\u00fan, sin, entre<\/em>) map almost directly onto English and shouldn&#8217;t cause much trouble, while others (<em>sobre, hacia\/hasta<\/em>) need a bit more attention, since they pack into a single word distinctions that English keeps separate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The advice stays the same as in Part 1: don&#8217;t just memorise the rules in the abstract \u2014 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Want to dig deeper?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Check out the full grammar reference on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sillabi.com\/app\/en\/resources\/es\/a2\">Las preposiciones<\/a> in the Sillabi grammar resources: you&#8217;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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Ready to take your Spanish to the next level?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Knowing the rules is only the first step \u2014 using prepositions with confidence, without having to stop and think every time, takes consistent practice and a method that guides you step by step. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you want to build a solid grammatical foundation and learn to speak Spanish naturally, check out the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sillabi.com\/app\/en\/course\/es\">\u00a1Ojal\u00e1!<\/a> course: a progressive, clear and motivating path designed to help you build real fluency, with activities, videos and practical explanations for everyday life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And if you&#8217;re not sure where to start, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sillabi.com\/app\/en\/assessment\/es\">take our level test<\/a> now: in just a few minutes, it&#8217;ll show you the best point in the course to begin.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Some Spanish prepositions you&#8217;ll use almost without thinking, because they map neatly onto English, while others hide [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[195,145],"tags":[260,856],"class_list":["post-3128","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a2-spanish","category-es-spanish","tag-grammar","tag-preposiciones"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sillabi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3128","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sillabi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sillabi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sillabi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sillabi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3128"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.sillabi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3128\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3139,"href":"https:\/\/www.sillabi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3128\/revisions\/3139"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sillabi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3128"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sillabi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3128"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sillabi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3128"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}