Learning to use prepositions is important to express yourself correctly.
Preposition is a type of word that does not vary and that allows certain elements to be introduced into a sentence , making them depend on other words already mentioned. Etymologically speaking, the term derives from Latin, being the result of the sum of two perfectly delimited and differentiated components:
- The prefix pre- , which can be translated as "before" .
- The positio , which derives from the verb ponere (synonymous with "to place" ).
Prepositions are analyzed within the framework of grammar , especially with regard to syntax . Since they play a very important role in language , these are elements that must be known precisely to communicate successfully.
Use of prepositions
Prepositions are generally found at the beginning of the syntactic constituent they modify. When linking words, prepositions function as invariable parts of sentences (be it a simple sentence or a compound sentence) that are responsible for denoting the link of the terms with each other.
The Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) recognizes 23 prepositions in the Spanish language that are used today. Among them are "to" , "with" , "of" , "in ", "until" , "for" , "for" , "if" and "about" .
Various examples
It is important to keep in mind that different prepositions can be used to indicate a wide variety of elements. Thus, for example, they can be used to refer to a place, an origin, a reason, a medium or even a destination, among many other things.
To understand this, just use the preposition "a" . Thus, when used in the phrase "I always go to the old library" it refers to a place or an address, while if it is used in sentences like "It is July 6, 2015" it makes a day evident. As you can see, prepositions can appear alongside nouns , verbs, adjectives , adverbs and other types of terms.
Another example of a sentence with a preposition is the following: "I will give Martín a ball." In this case, the preposition included is also "a" , which allows the gift in question (a ball ) to be related to the recipient of the gift ( Martín ).
Another expression with prepositions is "Raúl will dance with Estela on graduation night." Among the prepositions that appear are "with" (which links Raúl and Estela ) and "en" (indicates when the dance of both will take place).
There are more than twenty prepositions in our language.
The preposition "of"
Although all prepositions have varied uses, one of the ones with the most functions is "de" . Specifically, it can be used for more than twenty purposes.
"Of" can indicate a possession : "That car belongs to my neighbor," "My aunt Etelvina's dog is a poodle." Likewise, this preposition denotes where something or someone comes from or comes from : "The chocolate I used in the cake is from Belgium" , "I came from a very distant country to work here" , "I will leave my work at six in the afternoon." » .
The content and material of something can also be indicated by this preposition: "I like to wear linen pants," "I bought a bag of apples at the market." A cause and an issue , on the other hand, can be indicated with “of” : “The musician died of cancer,” “I heard they were talking about you,” “When I graduated, I cried with happiness.”
Other considerations about the concept
In some cases, prepositions link auxiliary verbs with others that appear in an impersonal form, creating what is known as verbal periphrases : "You have to shout louder," "I'm going to run when I hear the signal."
It should be noted, in turn, that prepositions can cause a contraction with the articles , creating a contract article . This occurs when "a" or "de" precedes the article "the" , giving rise to the birth of "al" and "del" : "I will steam the eggs" , "Knock on the neighbor's door" .
It is interesting to mention, on the other hand, that prepositions can appear in the subject or the predicate of a sentence. If we consider the phrase "Ricardo went to play football" , the preposition "a" is located in the predicate ( "Ricardo" is the subject, while "he went to play football" constitutes the predicate). On the other hand, in "Pizza with ham is my favorite food" , the proposition "with" appears in the subject.
Prepositions are linking elements or connections between different words or clauses.
Inseparable preposition and prepositional phrases
In addition to all of the above, we cannot ignore the existence of what is called inseparable preposition . This name refers to that prefix that was formerly used as a simple preposition and that, currently, can never be used alone. An example of this is "sub" .
In the same way, there are also the so-called prepositional phrases . These are groups of words that function as if they were a single preposition and, therefore, when syntactically analyzing a sentence, they must be studied as a unit. Examples of prepositional phrases are "under" and "through."