Difference between 'de' and 'desde' when talking about "from"?
I already know that 'de' and 'desde' both can be directly translated into more than just "from," but that's the kind of 'de' and 'desde' I'm referring to in my question. Looking it up, I saw that when 'de' meant "from," that it could be indicating time, distance, range, prevention, etc. However I saw just one connection that was the exact same for both 'de' and 'desde' (and the only use of "from" for 'desde') when using the definition of "from"; when it was indicating space. Can anyone help me out with how to know whether to use 'de' or 'desde' when talking about space?
*really sorry about my wording by the way, i probably made this sound super confusing
1 Answer
To quote an expert:
http://spanish.about.com/od/prepositions/a/de_vs_desde.htm
By Gerald Erichsen Spanish Language Expert
Question: On interactive Spanish TV programs, when someone is put on the air, they ask him: "¿Desde dónde nos llamas?" (and not "¿De dónde nos llamas?") for "Where are you calling from?" In what other cases shoulddesde be used rather thande?
Answer: Desde and de, in addition to their common meanings of "since" and "of," respectively, often are translated as "from." When used to mean "from," these two prepositions can be somewhat confusing, because the distinction, at least to foreign ears, isn't always clear.
And in many cases they are interchangeable. For example, both de aquí al centro and desde aquí al centro can be used for "from here to downtown." However, as a general rule, it can be said that desde more strongly indicates motion from a location. To give two examples, desde commonly would be used in sentences such as "Echó el libro desde el coche" (he threw the book from the car) and "Corrió desde la playa" (he ran from the beach).
Desde also is used with other prepositions: desde arriba (from above), desde dentro (from inside), desde abajo (from underneath). Note that these phrases tend to indicate motion from the specified area.
There are numerous cases where de, not desde, must be used to translate "from." Many of those are instances where in translation "of" can be substituted for "from," even if awkwardly. Examples: Soy de los Estados Unidos. (I'm from the United States. I'm of the United States.) Sacó el dinero de la bolsa. (She took the money from the purse. She took the money of the purse.) Sometimes the preposition por can be used to mean "from": Está debilitado por hambre. (He is weak from hunger.)
In the case you mentioned ("¿Desde dónde nos llamas?"), perhaps the best explanation is that desde is the preposition of choice in that phrase; that's simply the way it is usually said (although sometimes you will hear de used instead).
Desde is similarly used with hablar — "¿desde dónde hablas?" (where are you talking from?), although again de is often used instead.
Personally, I tend to use desde when, if I were to use de, I could confuse it with one of the other meanings of de, rather than from.
