Spanish Compound Prepositions

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In Spanish, a preposition that is composed of more than one word is called a compound preposition (frases preposicionales).

Spanish Compound Prepositions Table

Preposition	Meaning	Preposition	Meaning
a cargo de	in charge of	dentro de	within, inside of
(a) cerca de	about, near to	después de	after
a partir de	from	detrás de	behind, in back of
a mediados de/ alrededor de	around	en cambio	on the other hand
a tiempo	on time	en cuanto a	as far as
antes de	before	en (ocho) días	in (eight) days
además de	besides	en (dos semanas)	in (two weeks)
de ahora en adelante	from now on	en vez de	instead of
de pie	standing	encima de	above, on top of
de vez en cuando	from time to time	enfrente de	in front of
debajo de	beneath, under	frente a	in front of
delante de	in front of	lejos de	far from

Examples:

En una semana, voy a españa.
In a week, I will go to Spain.

Yo estoy a cargo de la tienda.
I am in charge of the store.

Mi casa esta cerca de mi trabajo.
My house is near to my work.

Connection Between Prepositions and Compound Prepositions

A preposition and a compound preposition can have different meanings in different situations. They can refer to time, movement and location and relationships among people and/or things.

• Time (tiempo) events/activities in the past, present or future

Examples:
Marta sale a las cinco de la tarde.
Marta leaves at five in the afternoon.

Vamos al cine después de las siete de la noche.
We go to the movies after seven at night.

• Movement (movimiento) indicates the direction or position where someone or something is going.

Examples:
Luisa y Carlos van a la escuela.
Luisa and Carlos go to school.

Vamos a caminar hasta el parque.
Let’s walk to the park.

El bus sale para Managua hoy en la tarde.
The bus leaves for Managua today in the afternoon.

• Location (locación) indicates where someone or something is.

Examples:
Mi trabajo está lejos de mi casa.
My work is far from my house.

Mi restaurante favorito está alrededor de mi casa.
My favorite restaurant is around my house.