Beyond possession and origin, the preposition de has a second major job: describing things. It tells you what an object is made of, what it contains, and what category it belongs to. In these uses, Spanish handles with de what English often handles with compound nouns or with of.
Material: what it is made of
To say what something is made of, Spanish uses [noun] de [material].
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| una casa de madera | a wooden house |
| una mesa de vidrio | a glass table |
| un anillo de oro | a gold ring |
| una camisa de algodón | a cotton shirt |
La iglesia es de piedra y tiene más de doscientos años.
The church is made of stone and is over two hundred years old.
Notice how English often lets one noun modify another directly (a leather jacket), but Spanish always needs the preposition de between them.
Content: what is inside
De also says what a container holds. Again, English often uses of, but sometimes the preposition disappears entirely in compound words.
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| una taza de café | a cup of coffee |
| un vaso de agua | a glass of water |
| una botella de vino | a bottle of wine |
| una caja de chocolates | a box of chocolates |
Compramos una botella de vino tinto para la cena.
We bought a bottle of red wine for dinner.
Type or category
De is the Spanish way to describe what kind of thing something is. This use is extremely common and covers topics, subjects, genres, and specializations.
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| un profesor de español | a Spanish teacher |
| un libro de historia | a history book |
| una clase de cocina | a cooking class |
| un zapato de fútbol | a soccer shoe |
Mi primo es profesor de matemáticas en la universidad.
My cousin is a math teacher at the university.
Me regalaron un libro de cuentos para niños.
They gave me a book of children's stories.
Pay attention to the order: the category word comes first, and de introduces the topic. Un profesor de español is a teacher of Spanish, not a Spanish of teacher.
Compound nouns in Spanish
Many everyday Spanish words are built with this pattern, and you can often guess their meaning if you recognize the two pieces.
| Spanish | Literal | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| sala de estar | room of being | living room |
| cepillo de dientes | brush of teeth | toothbrush |
| estación de tren | station of train | train station |
| máquina de escribir | machine of writing | typewriter |
Olvidé mi cepillo de dientes en el hotel.
I forgot my toothbrush at the hotel.
Purpose
A closely related use of de marks what something is for. Agua de beber is drinking water, and ropa de dormir is sleepwear. In most of these cases an infinitive follows de.
This use of de is so productive that it becomes automatic with practice. See the possession page for related uses and the verb + de page for fixed verb patterns.
Related Topics
- Prepositions OverviewA1 — An introduction to Spanish prepositions and the main words used to connect ideas.
- De: Possession and OriginA1 — How Spanish uses de to express possession, origin, and relationships.
- De: After VerbsB1 — Common Spanish verbs that require the preposition de before a noun or infinitive.