"a", "en", "de", "por", "para", "con"
I am really confused at times whether to use the preposition "a", or the preposition "en", for starters. Secondly, "de" has possibly also been used in instances when it seems like "a" or "en" would be used. Most of all, sometimes it is confusing whether you have to use "de" or if there is no preposition needed at all. Furthermore, I have seen "por" used when it seems like "de" would be used. Finally, there may have been some instances of the prepositions "con" and "para" being used when it did not appear to make sense at first, though there has not been much confusion. That's basically it.
3 Answers
Prepositions are perhaps one of the most difficult subjects in grammar. They change from language to language and sometimes they do not even make sense. The English language relies heavily on prepositions (hence the well known prepositional phrases). Spanish is looser when it comes to prepositions. Examples:
¿Dónde está el libro? En la nevera. No native Spanish speaker would even attempt look for the book inside the refrigerator but on top of it. In English, you'd have to say on top of the refrigerator. If you said in the refrigerator, a native English speaker would open the refrigerator door.
I throw my Spanish-speaking friends off by asking them to master things like:
Pick up vs. Pick on vs. Pick off vs. Pick out
Recoger vs. Molestar vs. Lanzar vs. Seleccionar.
Their answer is always the same: Why not just say "Pick" y se acabó... lol
As far as learning prepositions goes, a piece of advice from someone who has studied several languages would be to learn them, memorize them and don't fight them or compare them to your own language. Their choice are the result of many years of usage and acceptance by the native speakers.
We have many great reference articles here at SD.
Yeah, ^^ what he said.
