Spanish Prepositions

Spanish Prepositions Part 2:
DESDE, ENTRE, SIN and HASTA

 

If you haven’t had enough of prepositions yet, here are some more. Prepositions are extremely important to learn, because they allow you to connect your thoughts and make your sentences more precise. Although they may seem more confusing and vague compared to nouns or verbs, don’t dismiss them. You’ll hear the following words quite frequently in conversations.

 

DESDE: From or Since

The preposition desde is used in a variety of expressions to mean “from” or “since.”

It is also used in the following phrases.

desde … hasta (from … to)
El avión viajó desde Perú hasta Chile.
- The plane traveled from Peru to Chile.

desde que… (since)
He vivido aquí desde que nací.
- I’ve lived here since I was born.

¿desde cuándo? (how long?)
¿Desde cuándo lo sabes?
- How long have you known?

Desde que lo leí en tu diario.
- Since I read it in your diary.

 

HASTA: Until, Up to, As Far As, Even, Including

Hasta is another all-around useful word that can mean everything from “until” to “including.” You have already seen its use above, in the phrase desde … hasta (in which it means “to”). You’ve probably said it many times when waving goodbye to someone: ¡hasta luego! ¡hasta mañana!
Here are some examples of other ways to use hasta.

 

ENTRE: Among or Between

You won’t have many problems with the preposition entre, which means among or between. Use it just as you would use its English equivalents.

Por ejemplo:

 

SIN: Without

The word sin is usually followed by a noun, but you can also use it with the infinitive form of a verb.

Por ejemplo:

1. Diego quedó sin palabras.
- Diego was left without words.

2. Los turistas llegaron al hotel sin dinero.
- The tourists arrived to the hotel without money.

3. Sin poder estar al lado de su madre, Maria le escribió una carta.
- Without being able to be by her mother’s side, Maria wrote her a letter.

4. No puedo hacerlo sin ver las instrucciones.
- I can’t make it without looking at the instructions.

 

In the next section we'll talk about More Uses of Spanish Infinitives.