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Five Minute Study - SPANISH and ENGLISH compared Guía de la gramática inglesa...
En estas lecciones breves se comparan el inglés hablado y coloquial con el español con el fin de ayudar al estudiante a apreciar tanto las diferencias como las similitudes lingüísticas entre los dos idiomas.
Prepositions (2)
Spanish preposition "a" and English translations 2
Let's continue with our study of Spanish "a". We saw in the last lesson that a is usually used to describe motion towards and reaching something and therefore coincides with English "to":
I'm going to the beach tomorrow Voy a la playa mañana
However, the Spanish have a tendency to use "en" when talking about travel to places in the pretérito perfecto compuesto with estar (the English present perfect - ie. I have been):
He estado en Madrid In English: I have been in Madrid is possible but learners of English should note that "been" can be considered the past participle of to go* (as well as to be). So when talking about journeys British English especially prefers: I've been to Madrid (to as preposition of motion and been here is the past participle of go)
*This means that to go has two possible past participles: gone and been. Gone would be translated by Spanish ido (from ir) and been by estado (from estar):
(one way journey) She's left me and gone to Paris Ella me ha dejado y se ha ido a Paris
(return journey) She's been to Paris. She came back on Sunday Ha estado en Paris. Volvió el domingo
In the first lesson on prepositions we saw that English at is often translated by Spanish en:
He's at the bus stop Está en la parada de autobuses (Whether the bus stop has an interior or is just a pole by the road).
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English at and in and Spanish a and en
Learners of Spanish must remember that English in as a preposition of place can only mean inside (dentro) so ...in the bus stop... is only possible if it is a construction with a roof and walls. Learners of Spanish will note that en is vague and often does not mean inside.
However, it may be best to learn certain expressions by heart rather than learning rules which have so many exceptions. Here are some:
He stopped at a traffic light Paró en un semáforo
He sat at his computer Se sentó / a / en / su ordenador
Sit down at the table and eat your dinner! ¡Siéntate en la mesa y come! (la cena)
He knelt at her feet Se arrodilló a sus pies
They're having a drink at the bar Están tomando una copa en la barra
There are a lot of people in / at the bank Hay mucha gente en el banco
Learners of Spanish may feel confused that sitting on the table and sitting at the table can both be translated by sentarse en la mesa! You may hear ...a la mesa but ...en la mesa is more common. Correct context is therefore important! We can see that en can mean in, on or at!
To help learners of English understand the difference between at and in consider this situation:
A boy goes to his girlfriend's house and knocks / on / at / the door (en la puerta). The girl's mother opens it. The boy asks where the girl is. The mother says:
She's at the disco (Esta en la discoteca)
The boy goes to look for his girlfriend. He arrives at the disco (llega a la discoteca) and asks the doorman at the entrance (en la entrada): Where's Jane? The doorman answers:
She's in the disco (Está en la discoteca)
We can see then that at can be used to contrast with in; at the disco means in the disco or near the disco (the mother's meaning) but in the disco only means inside the disco (the doorman's meaning).
I finish with a selection of phases with Spanish a with similar and different meanings from the above. Compare the English translations:
It's just around the corner Está a la vuelta de la esquina
On the banks of the river A orillas del río
Stay by my side Quédate a mi lado
Turn left at the next crossroads Gire a la izquierda en el próximo cruce
Sun-dried tomatoes Tomates secados al sol
She lay in the sun Se tumbó al sol
We rested in the shade Descansamos a la sombra
This letter was written by hand (by typewriter) Esta carta se escribió a mano (a máquina)
She's on a diet Está a dieta
At twelve o'clock at night A las doce de la noche
It's Monday the first of May Estamos a lunes primero de mayo
You smell of tobacco Hueles a tabaco
Fungi sell at twelve euros a kilo Las setas se venden a doce euros el kilo
Food: French style A la francesa
Grilled fish Pescado a la parrilla
Baked potatoes Patatas al horno
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