How to Begin Spanish Learning Prepositions
A preposition is a word that relates a noun or pronoun to another word. Prepositions sometimes answer the questions "where?" or "when?" Many Spanish prepositions have direct translations into English, but may behave slightly differently depending on their context. A few prepositions are easier to learn if you don't translate them into English at all.
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Instructions
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Write the Spanish preposition on one side of a flash card and the English translation or a representative picture on the other side. This is the easiest way to memorize the meanings of prepositions that translate neatly into English. Examples of prepositions that translate directly to English are "bajo" (under or below), "cerca de" (near), "con" (with), "en" (in or on), "entre" (between), "hasta" (until), "después de" (after) and "sin" (without).
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Memorize prepositions that have more than one English translation as part of a sentence to learn their meanings in context. For example, "de" (from, of) has a different English meaning depending on how it is used. Create a separate flashcard for each meaning, and include a sample sentence such as "María es de Ecuador" (María is from Ecuador) and "La blusa es de María" (The blouse is María's/of María). Prepositions with more than one meaning include "a" (to, at), "desde" (from, since), "hacia" (toward, around) and "sobre" (about, over).
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Learn verbs and their accompanying prepositions as one unit. Just like in English, certain Spanish verbs always couple with the same preposition. In some cases, these prepositions are just like in English, as in "ir" and "a" (go + to). When the preposition differs from its English translation, chunk the two words together. For example, learn "soñar" and "con" (dream + about), or "tratar" and "de" (try + to) as one unit.
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Familiarize yourself with the many uses of "por" and "para" by memorizing them in a sentence that exemplifies each meaning of the words. By repeating your example sentences over and over, the correct use of each preposition will become familiar to you. If you confuse "por" and "para" in new sentences later, you will notice that the wrong word sounds funny because it is not like the sentences you memorized. To learn more about the difference between "por" and "para," a good resource is studyspanish.com.
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Practice saying the contractions "al" and "del." When "de" and "a" appear before the article "el," "de" becomes "del" and "a" becomes "al." It is hard to pronounce "a" and "el" or "de" and "el" separately, so repeat them aloud until the contractions become natural. "Con" (with) behaves differently when it is used with "tí" (you) and "mí" (me), becoming "contigo" (with you) and "conmigo" (with me).
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Tips & Warnings
When learning a different language, use visual representations whenever possible to avoid the pitfalls of translating word-for-word.
