Posts tagged with "prepositions"

Los modos adverbiales son conjuntos de dos o más palabras que funcionan como adverbios. Vamos a aprender algunos de ellos. Desde luego no tiene que memorizarlos pero ponga atención en su significado e intente hacer frases con ellos. Si los encuentra en algún texto, vea como se usan. Para ayudarle, le doy la traducción en inglés.

a ciegas – irreflexivamente [blindly, without thinking about it]
a cuerpo de rey – con todo regalo y comodidad [like a king, in a fancy style]
a deshoras – de repente, intempestivamente, inoportunamente [at odd times, at the wrong time]
a diestro y siniestro – sin tino, sin orden; sin discreción ni miramiento [erratically, wandering around]
a duras penas – con gran dificuldad o trabajo [hardly, with difficulty]
a fe mía – sin mentir, de verdad [without lying, in my truest opinion]
a gatas – a cuatro patas [on all fours]
a humo de pajas – sin reflexión ni consideración [without thinking about it]
a hurtadillas – furtivamente [stealthily, on the sly]
a la bartola – sin cuidado, libre de toda inquietud [carelessly, any old how]
a la carrera – a toda disparada [in a hurry]
a la chita callando – sin meter ruido, con mucho silencio [quietly, silently]
a la diabla – sin esmero, de cualquier manera [carelessly]
a la postre – al final [in the end]
a la vez – al mismo tiempo [at the same time]
a lo mejor – quizá [maybe, perhaps]
a mares – abundantemente [abundantly]
a menudo – frecuentemente [frequently]
a ojo de buen cubero – más o menos [at a guess, roughly]
a ojos vista(s) – perceptiblemente [visibly]
a paso de carga – precipitadamente [rashly, precipitately]
a paso de tortuga – muy lentamente [very slowly]
a pedir de boca – lo mejor posible [just fine, the best possible]
a regañadientes – de mala gana [unwillingly]
a sabiendas – con conocimiento y deliberación, conscientemente [in the know]
a sangre y fuego – de cualquier manera y obligatoriamente [with great violence and force]
a tientas – con incertidumbre, sin tino, a ciegas [blindly]
a troche y moche – disparatada e inconsideradamente [like there's no tomorrow, erratically]

Por hoy es todo. Nos vemos prontito.

As in any other language, prepositions in Spanish can be a problem when learning the language. They can have the same meaning as in English, or not. A preposition is a  linking word used to introduce links to nouns, pronouns and phrases to other words in a sentence. A preposition usually indicates the temporal, spatial or logical relationship of its object to the rest of the sentence. Let’s review some of them by looking at this chart.

Of Place Of Direction Of Time
a a
hacia hacia
en en
de de de
hasta hasta
desde desde desde
sobre sobre
bajo
entre entre
contra contra

As we can see, some prepositions can have different equivalents in english, so maybe it would be easier to see some examples in order to clarify their use.

a (to, at, by, on)         
Está cerca de mi casa, iré a pie. (It’s near my house, I’ll go on foot.)
Llegaré a las tres en punto. (I will be there at three o’clock.)

hacia (toward)    
Caminaban hacia la salida. (They were walking toward the exit.)

en (in, on, at, by) 
Él vive en Madrid. (He lives in Madrid.)
El libro está en la mesa. (The book is on the table.)

de (from, of, about) 
¿De dónde eres? (Where are you from?)
El postre está hecho de hojaldre. (The dessert is made of puff pastry.)

hasta (until, to, as far as, up to)
Normalmente duermo hasta las 9 de la mañana. ( I usually sleep until 9 in the morning.)

desde (from, since)
No he comido desde ayer. (I haven’t eaten since yesterday)
Mi madre se cayó desde la escalera. (My mum fell from the stairs.)

sobre (on, upon, above, over, about)
Es un artículo sobre medicina. (It is an article about medicine.)

bajo (under)
Me encanta la canción “Te llevo bajo mi piel”. (I love the song “I’ve got you under my skin”.)

entre (between, among)
La gata está entre la mesa y el sofá. (The cat is between the table and the sofa).
¡Estamos entre amigos! (We are among friends!)

con (with)
¿Has dejado a los niños con tu hermano? (Have you left the children with your brother?)

sin (without)
No puedo vivir sin ti. (I can’t live without you.)

contra (against)
¿Estás contra el maltrato animal? (Are you against animal abuse?)

I hope you find this quick review helful for your Spanish exercises. See you very soon!

 

Hi, everybody! Espero que estén todos bien.

Today let’s take a look at the verb phrase liarse a followed by the infinitive in Spanish. This phrase expresses the beginning of an action where its timespan is not clearly perceived, because you basically do something and lose track of time.

People usually use this perífrasis to express a perfect excuse for not doing something. Here’s an example:

Perdóname el retraso, pero es que me he liado a limpiar la casa y no me he dado cuenta de la hora.
Sorry I’m late, but I got caught up in cleaning the house and didn’t realize how late it was.

Me he retrasado, lo siento. Me he liado a corregir los exámenes de los alumnos y he perdido la noción del tiempo.
I’m late, sorry. I got caught up in correcting my students’ tests and I have lost track of time.

It can also be used not as an excuse, but as a means of saying that you just lost track of time:

Me lié a estudiar a las cuatro, y cuando miré la hora ya eran las siete.
I got caught up in studying at four and when I looked at the time it was already seven.

However, the time references are not the only ones since in other cases what is emphasized is the non-controlled use of the action being performed:

Se lió a comer pasteles, hasta que ya no hubo.
He started eating cakes until there was none left.

El ladrón se lió a correr al ver la policía.
The thief started running when he saw the police. (And kept on running for some time.)

In the sentence above the person started eating cakes and didn’t stop, because they couldn’t control it. Here’s another example:

Se lió a insultarnos, hasta que llegó la policía.
He kept on insulting us until the police arrived.

Elena se lió a gritar al ver el ratón.
Elena started crying when she saw the mouse. (She kept on crying for some time.)

Why don’t you write some more sentences with the liarse a + infinitive perífrasis? Looking forward to your comments!

The periphrasis dejar de has several uses in Spanish. The first use shows the end of an action or habit.

Dejé de fumar el año pasado.
I stopped smoking last year.

He dejado de asistir a clase por falta de tiempo.
I stopped going to class for lack of time / because I didn’t have the time.

It’s also used in the imperative form:

¡Niño, deja de jugar con esa pelota!
Boy, stop playing with that ball!

¡Por favor, deja de molestarme!
Please, stop bothering me!

When used in the negative form, it shows:

- A repeated habit

No he dejado de venir un solo día.
I haven’t stopped coming one day. (I came here every single day.)

No he dejado de practicar un día.
I haven’t stopped practicing one day. (I practiced every single day.)

- An ongoing action

No deja de repetir lo mismo.
He keeps repeating the same thing. (on, and on and on)

No deja de hablar de ella.
He keeps talking about her.

- As a piece of advice or reminder

No dejes de llamarme.
Make sure to call me. /Call me.

No dejes de estudiar español.
Don’t stop studying Spanish. / Keep studying Spanish.

OK, so you already know that you form adverbs by adding the -mente ending to adjectives, but did you know that there are several expressions that serve as adverbs and don’t end in -mente? Let’s check out some of them.

Nos sirvió a galope.
He served us very fast.

Los visita a menudo.
He often visits them.

Sólo venden al por mayor.
They only sell wholesale.

Sólo venden al por menor.
They only sell retail.

Salió a la francesa.
He left without saying good-bye.

Hizo la tarea en un santiamén.
He did his homework very quickly.

No lo sé de memoria.
I don’t now it by heart.

Echó a reírse sin más ni más.
He started laughing just like that.

Te lo haré de muy buena gana.
I will do it for you willingly.

Lo hizo de mala gana / a regañadientes.
He did it unwillingly.

Vive a lo grande.
He lives well (in a confortable situation).

Maneja a lo loco.
He drives like crazy.

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