Preposition trouble: At

Question

Here are 2 both using the word 'at' in quite similar situations.

1 Trabajé por un año en una escuela secundaria - I worked at a high school for one year

2 Dejé mi curriculum con muchas compañías ayer. - I left my résumé at many companies yesterday.

As you can see in the first they translate 'at' with en and in the other with con.

My question: are en and con interchangable in these sentences or is there a subtlety that would make doing so a horrible mistake?

PS Both the English and Spanish translations of these sentences are taken from another Spanish learning website.

Answer 1

I am only a beginner but how I would look at it is this.

In the first sentence the 'at' in the English sentence could be replaced with in, and that is what is used in the Spanish, en.

In the second one 'with' could replace the 'at' in the English sentence, and that is what is used in the Spanish, 'con'.

I hope that helps.

Thanks by the way, reading other peoples questions really helps me to think things through.

Answer 2

I am a beginner, but I read: I worked in ... and: I left my resumes with ...

So this does not look like interchangeability para mi.

Answer 3

My question: are en and con interchangable in these sentences or is there a subtlety that would make doing so a horrible mistake?

In Spanish, you don't work "at" a place. You work "in" a place. So while in English I worked "at" the company, in Spanish you must say "Trabajé en la companía."

The second sentence is a little trickier for me. I think you could also say "Dejé mi curriculum en muchas companías ayer. But I don't think "at" would work out at all there.

Answer 4

I do not see any problems/conflicts of usage here.

In the first sentence you would say'' I used to work in a secondary school'' as in the example below:

1 Trabajé por un año en una escuela secundaria - I worked **in a secondary (high) school for one year**

I have just checked what I considered normal usage with my Collins concise English dictionary (and Thesuarus) and the word ''in'' would be used:

ex15 at one's home or place of work

This is based on normal usage in England.

The Spanish preposition en can be used to mean in, at or on

in this case: in so there is a correct translation

In the second sentence in England we would say I left my C.V. (resumé) ''with'' many companies, yesterday

2 Dejé mi curriculum con muchas compañías ayer. - I left my résumé at many companies yesterday.

I hope that helps