Other Prepositions | Spanish (Latin America) Grammar

Beyond the big six (a, de, en, con, por, para), Spanish has roughly a dozen other single-word prepositions. Some are everyday staples like sin (without) and hasta (until); others are more literary or specialized. This page walks through the most useful ones.

Reference table

Preposition	Meaning	Example
ante	before, in front of (formal)	ante el juez
bajo	under, below (figurative)	bajo la lluvia
contra	against	contra la pared
desde	from, since	desde ayer
durante	during	durante la clase
entre	between, among	entre tú y yo
hacia	toward	hacia el norte
hasta	until, up to, as far as	hasta mañana
según	according to	según ella
sin	without	sin azúcar
sobre	on, about, over	sobre la mesa
tras	after, behind (literary)	tras la tormenta
mediante	by means of	mediante un acuerdo

Ante — before, in front of (formal)

Ante means "in front of" or "before" in formal or figurative contexts. In everyday spoken Spanish, delante de is far more common for physical "in front of," but ante lives on in legal, ceremonial, and abstract contexts.

Tuvo que comparecer ante el juez.

He had to appear before the judge.

Bajo — under, below

Bajo means "under," typically in a figurative sense. For physical "under," debajo de is more common in everyday speech.

Caminamos bajo la lluvia sin paraguas.

We walked in the rain without an umbrella.

Also used idiomatically: bajo presión (under pressure), bajo control (under control), bajo cero (below zero).

Contra — against

Apoyó la escalera contra la pared.

He leaned the ladder against the wall.

Also used for opposition: votar contra (to vote against), luchar contra (to fight against).

Desde — from, since

Desde marks a starting point in time or space. It's closer to English "since" or "from" than to the plain de.

Vivo en Quito desde 2015.

I've lived in Quito since 2015.

Te estoy llamando desde el aeropuerto.

I'm calling you from the airport.

The pair desde... hasta... covers "from X to Y":

El museo está abierto desde las nueve hasta las seis.

The museum is open from nine until six.

Durante — during, for

No debes usar el celular durante la clase.

You shouldn't use your phone during class.

Durante can also express duration, where English uses "for": Estudié durante tres horas (I studied for three hours).

Entre — between, among

Note that after entre, Spanish uses the subject pronouns tú and yo, not the usual prepositional ti and mí. This is a small but famous exception.

Entre tú y yo, no me gustó la película.

Between you and me, I didn't like the movie.

El gato está entre las plantas.

The cat is among the plants.

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After most prepositions, Spanish uses mí and ti — but after entre, según, incluso, excepto, salvo, and a few others, use yo and tú instead. Entre tú y yo is the standard.

Hacia — toward

Hacia points in a direction, without necessarily reaching it. It's the Spanish equivalent of English "toward."

Caminábamos hacia el norte cuando empezó a llover.

We were walking north when it started to rain.

Hacia can also mean "toward" in a figurative sense: actitud hacia algo (attitude toward something).

Hasta — until, up to, as far as

Hasta marks an endpoint in time, space, or degree. It pairs with desde for "from... to..."

¡Hasta mañana!

See you tomorrow! (literally: until tomorrow)

Caminé hasta el parque.

I walked as far as the park.

Hasta can also mean "even" (surprising inclusion): Hasta yo lo sabía ("Even I knew it").

Según — according to

Según el periódico, va a llover mañana.

According to the newspaper, it's going to rain tomorrow.

Like entre, según takes subject pronouns: según tú (according to you), según yo (according to me).

Sin — without

Prefiero el café sin azúcar.

I prefer my coffee without sugar.

Sin is used in many common expressions: sin duda (without a doubt), sin embargo (nevertheless), sin falta (without fail).

Sobre — on, about, over

Sobre is versatile: it can mean physically "on top of," or figuratively "about" (a topic), or "over" (above).

El libro está sobre la mesa.

The book is on the table.

Escribí un ensayo sobre la Revolución Mexicana.

I wrote an essay about the Mexican Revolution.

For physical "on top of," encima de is often clearer in spoken Spanish.

Tras — after, behind (literary)

Tras is old-fashioned and literary. In speech, después de (after) and detrás de (behind) are used instead.

Tras la tormenta siempre llega la calma.

After the storm, the calm always comes.

Mediante — by means of

More formal; used in writing.

Resolvimos el problema mediante un acuerdo.

We solved the problem by means of an agreement.

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Many of these short prepositions (ante, bajo, tras) have common two-word equivalents (delante de, debajo de, detrás de) that you'll hear far more often in conversation. Learn the short forms, but don't feel pressured to use them unless the context is formal.

For the longer compound forms, see compound prepositions.