| Las Preposiciones | Prepositions |
When a person is the direct object of a verb, that person's name is always preceded by an a.
| Vemos a un hombre gordo. | We see a fat man. | |
| Tú visitas a Claudia. | You visit Claudia. | |
| Busco a la señorita. | I'm looking for the señorita. |
The a isn't used after tener.
| Tengo un tío quien es abogado. | I have an uncle who is a lawyer. |
The a is also used before geographical names that aren't modified.
| Visitamos a Inglaterra. | We are visiting England. | |
| Visitamos a los Estados Unidos. | We are visiting the United States. |
Whenever the prepositions a or de are followed by the article el, the two fuse together.
| Me gusta el pescado* del mar. | I like the fish from the sea. | |
| Yo quiero dar un regalo al maestro. | I want to give a gift to the teacher. |
*pescado refers to fish when you are going to cook or eat it. Otherwise it is un pez.
When a pronoun is the object of a preposition, normally a subject pronoun should be used.
| Guillermo está sentado entre él y ella. | Guillermo is seated between him and her. | |
| Elena no puede tener éxito sin nosotros. | Elena can't be successful without us. |
This isn’t the case for the first and second person singular forms- mí and tí.
| La serpiente está cerca de tí y José. | The snake is close to you and Jose. | |
| Prefiero que el diablo esté muy lejos de
mí. I prefer that the devil be very far from me. |
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In all other cases subject pronouns are used.
| El bebé está con ella. | The baby is with her. | |
| Yo estoy con ellos. | I am with them. |
Con is special. In the first and second person singular forms, the preposition and pronoun combine and you get conmigo and contigo.
| Mi hijo está conmigo. | My son is with me. | |
| El perro está contigo. | The dog is with you. | |
| El obispo está con él. | The bishop is with him. |
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