Prepositions of Place
Prepositions of Place
Spanish and English both place location words before the noun — the real trap here isn't word order, it's that Spanish's 'to be' choice depends on location in a way English's doesn't.
Grammar Comparison
Grammar Comparison
Same word order as English
sobre la mesa, debajo de la silla — preposition, then noun
on the table, under the chair — the same order
Unlike some grammar points in this course, prepositions of place don't require you to unlearn an English habit — both languages put the location word directly before the noun it describes. The vocabulary itself is what's new, not the sentence shape.
Location always uses estar, never ser
el libro está sobre la mesa (the book is on the table) — never 'es sobre'
the book is on the table — just 'to be', no choice to make
You already learned that Spanish splits 'to be' into ser and estar — location is one of the clearest, most consistent estar triggers. Whatever else is true about a thing, where it currently is always takes estar, no exceptions to watch for here.
Vocabulary
Vocabulary
- English
- on / on top of
- English
- under
- English
- inside
- English
- outside
- English
- near
- English
- far from
- English
- behind
- English
- in front of
- English
- between
- English
- next to