Mixed prepositions 1

The six most common prepositions — The prepositions you'll encounter most are: a (to/at), de (of/from), en (in/on/at), con (with), por (by/through/because of), para (for/in order to). Mastering these six covers the vast majority of prepositional uses in everyday Spanish.

The two contractions: al and del — a + el → al and de + el → del are obligatory — never write a el or de el. They only contract with the masculine singular article el, not with the pronoun él (accent): Es el libro de él (no contraction). Voy al mercado. Vengo del trabajo.

Verbs with fixed prepositions — Many Spanish verbs require a specific preposition before an infinitive or noun: empezar a, dejar de, pensar en, soñar con, hablar de. These prepositions are part of the verb's meaning and must be learned as vocabulary — there's no rule that predicts which preposition follows which verb.