The preposition a
• The preposition a can mean to, at, for, upon, within,
of, from, or by, depending on the context. Sometimes
it has no direct translation in English.
Terminó a las doce.
Le compré un pájaro exótico a Juan.
It ended at midnight.
I bought an exotic bird from/for Juan.
Lucy estaba a mi derecha.
Al llegar a casa, me sentí feliz.
Lucy was to/on my right.
Upon returning home, I felt happy.
El Mar Caribe está a doce
millas de aquí.
Fui a casa de mis padres para ayudarlos
después de la inundación.
The Caribbean Sea is twelve
miles from here.
I went to my parents’ house to help them
after the flood.
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6.3–1
• The preposition a introduces indirect objects.
Le prometió a su hijo que irían
a navegar.
Hoy, en el zoo, le di de comer a
un conejo.
He promised his son they
would go sailing.
Today, in the zoo, I fed a rabbit.
• The preposition a can be used in commands.
¡A comer!
¡A dormir!
Let’s eat!
Time for bed!
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6.3–2
Some verbs require a when used with an infinitive, such as ir a,
comenzar a, volver a, enseñar a, aprender a, and ayudar a.
Aprendí a manejar.
I learned to drive.
Me ayudó a arreglar el coche.
He helped me fix the car.
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6.3–3
• When a direct object noun is a person (or a pet), it is
preceded by the personal a, which has no equivalent
in English. The personal a is also used with the
words alguien, nadie, and alguno.
¿Viste a tus amigos en el
parque?
No, no he visto a nadie.
Did you see your friends in
the park?
No, I haven’t seen anyone.
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6.3–4
• The personal a is not used when the person in
question is not specific.
La organización ambiental busca
voluntarios.
Sí, necesitan voluntarios
para limpiar la costa.
The environmental organization is
looking for volunteers.
Yes, they need volunteers
to clean the coast.
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6.3–5
The preposition hacia
• With movement, either literal or figurative,
hacia means toward or to.
La actitud de Manuel hacia
mí fue negativa.
El biólogo se dirige hacia Puerto
Rico para la entrevista.
Manuel’s attitude toward me
was negative.
The biologist is headed to Puerto
Rico for the interview.
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6.3–6
• With time, hacia means approximately, around,
about, or toward.
El programa que queremos
ver empieza hacia las 8.
La televisión se hizo popular
hacia la segunda mitad del
siglo XX.
The show that we want to
watch will begin around 8:00.
Television became popular
toward the second half of the
twentieth century.
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6.3–7
There is no accent mark on the i in the preposition hacia.
The stress falls on the first a. The word hacía is a form of
the verb hacer.
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6.3–8
The preposition con
• The preposition con means with.
Me gustaría hablar con el
director del departamento.
Es una organización ecológica
con muchos miembros.
I would like to speak with the
director of the department.
It’s an environmental
organization with lots of
members.
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6.3–9
• Many English adverbs can be expressed in Spanish
with con + [noun].
Habló del tema con cuidado.
Hablaba con cariño.
She spoke about the issue carefully.
He spoke affectionately.
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6.3–10
• The preposition con is also used rhetorically to
emphasize the value or the quality of something or
someone, contrary to a given fact or situation. In this
case, con conveys surprise at an apparent conflict
between two known facts. In English, the words but,
even though, and in spite of are used.
Los turistas tiraron los envoltorios
al suelo.
¡Con lo limpio que estaba todo!
The tourists threw wrappers on
the ground.
But the place was so clean!
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6.3–11
• If con is followed by mí or ti, it forms a contraction:
conmigo, contigo.
¿Quieres venir conmigo
al campo?
Por supuesto que quiero
ir contigo.
Do you want to come with me
to the countryside?
Of course I want to go with you.
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6.3–12
• Consigo is the contraction of con + usted/ustedes
or con + él/ella/ellos/ellas. Consigo is equivalent to
the English with himself/herself/yourself or with
themselves/yourselves, and is commonly followed by
mismo. It is only used when the subject of the
sentence is the same person referred to after con.
Están satisfechos consigo
mismos.
Fui al cine con él.
La sequía trajo consigo
muchos problemas.
Prefiero ir al parque
con usted.
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6.3–13