Spanish Prepositions ‘a’ and ‘de’

The Spanish prepositions — ‘a’ (to), and ‘de’ (of), when used in conjunction with a Spanish noun, precede the articles (el),(masc’) and (la) (fem’).

When these Spanish prepositions come before the masculine (el), ( singular), there is a contraction and fusion of these two.

Therefore; (a + el)  =  al, and (de + el)  =  del.

Single, masculine examples are;

1. El cine (the cinema),

   Voy al cine =  I’m going to the cinema. —- (a+el=al).

2. El bosque (the forest),

   Las fruitas del bosque =  The fruits of the forest. —-(de+el=del).

The plural of the masculine combination of (de) and (los) does not have this fusion, so:

1. Voy a los cines  =  I’m going to the cinemas.
2. Las frutas de los bosques = the fruits of the forests.

When these Spanish prepositions, ‘a’ (to), and ‘de’ (of) come before the Spanish feminine (la) – there are no radical changes.

i.e. there are no such changes, or fusion in the feminine forms.

Singular, feminine examples are;

1. La ciudad (the city),

   El centro (de la ciudad) =  The centre of the city.

2. La calle (the street),

   El nombre de la calle =  The name of the street.

The plural of the feminine combination of (de) and (las) has no fusion:

1. El centro de las ciudades =  The centre of the cities.
2. El nombre de las calles =  The name of the streets.

The Spanish preposition (‘a’),  can be used also to express;

• Destination, la (destinación);  este tren no va a Sevilla = this train does not go to Seville.
• The time, (la hora);  llega a las 10 = it arrives at 10.
• The objective, (objetivo);  voy a ver el partido de tenis = I’m going to see the game of tennis.
• The price, date, distance, temperature; ( el precio, la fecha, la distancia, la temperatura)

  —¿cuánto cuesta las naranjas? = how much do the oranges cost.

  — hoy estamos a 23 de septiembre = today is the 23 of September.

  — Barcelona astá a 650 km. de Madrid. = Barcelona is 650 km. from Madrid.

  — Que calor!, estamos a 40 grados, mas o menos = I’ts hot, it’s 40 degrees, more or less.

• With the possession of, (posesión ‘de’);

  – de quién es este libro? =  who’s is this book?

  –de Beatriz = it’s Beatriz’s.

• With materials, (materiales);

  – ella esta comprando muebles de caoba auténtica = she is buying real mahogany furniture.

• With time and duration, (tiempo y duración);

  –llegué ayer de Cádiz = he arrived from  Cádiz yesterday.

• To say the time of day, (momento del día al decir las horas).

  –salimos a las seis de la tarde = we leave at six in the evening.

• For details of a description, (datos de una descripción);

  –es una mujer de ojas claros, de estatura media y de pelo rízado.

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