A or en?

The use of prepositions a and en is a frequent question from our students.

As we have already mentioned in the article about prepositions por and para, the topic of prepositions is not easy since we want to translate them from our native language and their use depends on many factors. They are a grammar issue and a vocabulary issue.

At CELA Spanish School we explain the topic in this way:

The preposition a is a preposition that indicates movement and goes with verbs that express movement, such as, for example:

Vamos a la playa.

Caminamos al trabajo.

Viajamos a Colombia.

Llegamos a Madrid.

When the preposition a coincides with the determined article el, it becomes al. It only happens with the masculine article and not with the feminine.

The preposition en could be considered the opposite. It indicates non-movement and usually goes with non-movement verbs such as estar. For example:

Estamos en la playa.

Comemos en el restaurante hoy.

Pasamos unos días en Colombia.

Nos quedamos en Madrid el fin de semana.

So: the preposition a indicates movement and goes with verbs of movement and en is the opposite, there is no movement towards a place.

Practice:

As always, we are going to do some exercises. According to what we have explained, place the preposition a or the preposition en in the following sentences. Remember to check first in the translator the words you don’t know. The solutions are after the exercise.

Example:

Estamos en Venezuela para practicar español y conocer el Salto Ángel.

  1. Vamos ____ restaurante, hoy no quiero cocinar.
  2. Estoy ___ la montaña, no puedo hablar por teléfono.
  3. Los domingos comemos ______ casa de mis padres.
  4. Hoy llego ____ la oficina un poco más tarde.
  5. Los fines de semana me gusta quedarme _____ casa.
  6. Voy caminado ____ la oficina, me gusta hacer ejercicio.
  7. Vamos ____ supermercado.
  8. Compramos las frutas _____ el supermercado.
  9. Te voy a anotar la receta _____ un papel.
  10. Fui ___ la escuela ____ Caracas.
  11. Llegamos ___ Salto Ángel, es maravilloso.
  12. Me voy ____ la cama, tengo que levantarme temprano mañana.
  13. Me gusta leer ____ la cama antes de dormir. Me relaja.
  14. Nos vemos _____ casa de Pedro para ver series.
  15. Iremos ___ casa de Pedro para ver series.

Solutions:

  1. Vamos al restaurante, hoy no quiero cocinar.
  2. Estoy en la montaña, no puedo hablar por teléfono.
  3. Los domingos comemos en casa de mis padres.
  4. Hoy llego a la oficina un poco más tarde.
  5. Los fines de semana me gusta quedarme en casa.
  6. Voy caminado a la oficina, me gusta hacer ejercicio.
  7. Vamos al supermercado.
  8. Compramos las frutas en el supermercado.
  9. Te voy a anotar la receta en un papel.
  10. Fui a la escuela en Caracas.
  11. Llegamos al Salto Ángel, es maravilloso.
  12. Me voy a la cama, tengo que levantarme temprano mañana.
  13. Me gusta leer en la cama antes de dormir. Me relaja.
  14. Nos vemos en casa de Pedro para ver series.
  15. Iremos a casa de Pedro para ver series.

Now let’s mention other important uses of these prepositions.

Future:

With the verb ir + the preposition a+ the verb in infinitive (verb without conjugation) we form the future in Spanish.

Example:

Voy a estudiar español con mis amigos esta tarde.

Mañana voy a ver a mi madre.

Mis alumnos van a viajar a España.

The prepositions a and en with means of transport:

We generally use the preposition en to talk about means of transportation:

Voy en autobús a la escuela.

Vamos en avión a Perú.

Luis va en moto a la universidad.

Viajamos a la isla de Margarita en barco.

There are only two exceptions:  A pie y a caballo

Me gusta ir a pie al trabajo.

Para subir a esta montaña es mejor ir a caballo.

Use of the preposition a with person as an object in a sentence

This is very important and very different in Spanish than in other languages.

When a person is not the subject of the sentence, the preposition a must always preceds it.

For example:

Visito a mi madre los domingos.

The subject of the sentence is yo, yo visito and mi madre is not the subject, that is why it must have the preposition a.

Let’s remember that the subject of the sentence is the one who does the action.

More examples:

Conozco a Juan desde hace muchos años.

However, it does not apply to things.

Conozco Colombia.

If animals are considered persons, and are not the subject of the sentence, they must have the preposition a.

For example:

Saco a pasear al perro del vecino.

Mi madre alimenta a las gallinas.

This is very important for speaking Spanish correctly.

We have not explained all the uses of these prepositions, only what seems most important to us.

Read this article in Spanish

Want to know more?

About the author: Sabine Loffler has a degree in Literature from UCV in Venezuela, a PhD in Hispanic Philology from UNED in Spain, a Specialist in Distance and Adult Education from UNED, has been teaching Spanish since 1992, is the founder of CELA Spanish School and is a Spanish teacher trainer.

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