Five-minute Spanish Lessons - Lesson 24.

Prepositions (2)

Spanish preposition "a" and English translations 2.

Let's continue with our study of Spanish "a". We saw in the last lesson that "a" is usually used to describe motion towards and reaching something and therefore coincides with English "to":

I'm going to the beach tomorrow.

Voy a la playa mañana.

However, the Spanish have a tendency to use "en" when talking about travel to places in the preterite perfect compound tense with estar (the English present perfect - ie. I have been):

He estado en Madrid.

In English:

I have been in Madrid

is possible but learners of English should note that "been" can be considered the past participle of to go* (as well as to be). So when talking about journeys British English especially prefers:

I've been to Madrid.

*This means that to go has two possible past participles: gone and been. Gone would be translated by Spanish ido (from "ir") and been by estado (from estar):

One way journey:

She's left me and gone to Paris.

Ella me ha dejado y se ha ido a Paris.

Return journey:

She's been to Paris. She came back on Sunday.

Ha estado en Paris. Volvió el domingo.

In the first lesson on prepositions we saw that English at is often translated by Spanish en:

He's at the bus stop.

Está en la parada de autobuses.

Whether the bus stop has an interior or is just a pole by the road.

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English "at" and "in" and Spanish "a and "en".

Learners of Spanish will note that "en" is vague and often does not mean inside.

However, it may be best to learn certain expressions by heart rather than learning rules which have so many exceptions:

He stopped at a traffic light.

Paró en un semáforo.

He sat at his computer.

Se sentó / a / en / su ordenador.

Sit down at the table and eat your dinner!

¡Siéntate en la mesa y come!

He knelt at her feet.

Se arrodilló a sus pies.

They're having a drink at the bar.

Están tomando una copa en la barra.

There are a lot of people in / at the bank.

Hay mucha gente en el banco.

Learners of Spanish may feel confused that sitting on the table and sitting at the table can both be translated by sentarse en la mesa! Correct context is therefore important! We can see that en can mean in, on or at!

I finish with a selection of phases with Spanish "a" with similar and different meanings from the above. Compare the English translations:

It's just around the corner.

Está a la vuelta de la esquina.

On the banks of the river.

A orillas del río.

Stay by my side.

Quédate a mi lado.

Turn left at the next crossroads.

Gire a la izquierda en el próximo cruce.

Sun-dried tomatoes.

Tomates secados al sol.

She lay in the sun.

Se tumbó al sol.

We rested in the shade.

Descansamos a la sombra.

This letter was written by hand (by typewriter).

Esta carta se escribió a mano (a máquina).

She's on a diet.

Está a dieta.

At twelve o'clock at night.

A las doce de la noche.

It's Monday the first of May.

Estamos a lunes primero de mayo.

You smell of tobacco.

Hueles a tabaco.

Fungi sell at twelve euros a kilo.

Las setas se venden a doce euros el kilo.

Food:

French style.

A la francesa.

Grilled fish.

Pescado a la parrilla.

Baked potatoes.

Patatas al horno.

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