Five-minute Spanish Lessons - Lesson 21.

Prepositions (5)

Spanish "a" compared with English "from"

Both Learners of Spanish and English should be careful of the right translation of these two prepositions with certain verbs that have a similar meaning to "remove / take away" or in Spanish "quitar":

They took my father's house from him.

Le quitaron la casa a mi padre.

They stole all the jewels from an elderly lady.

Le han robado todas las joyas a una anciana.

The teacher confiscated the knife from the boy.

El profesor ha confiscado la navaja al niño.

Also with the verb comprar in the following sense:

We're going to buy a second-hand fridge from somebody who put an ad in the paper.

Vamos a comprar un frigorífico a alguien que ha puesto un anuncio en el periódico.

But the Spanish "a" rule does not apply to the verbs aceptar and recibir and the more easily understood "de" is used:

We don't accept cheques from anybody.

Aquí no aceptamos talones de nadie.

I've received a summons from the Town Hall to appear in court.

He recibido una citación del Ayuntamiento para comparecer ante el tribunal.

Top

Copyright 2022 English Spanish Link
All rights reserved