PREPOSICIONES/ PREPOSITIONS

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VII. DE /of, about, from, to

a. DE is used to indicate possession, origin, or material of which something is made:

EXAMPLES

• La tarjeta del Sr. Socorro se perdió./ Mr. Socorro's business card was lost.
• Yo soy de Méjico.(México can also be spelt with x)/ I am from Mexico.
• Los relojes Rolex son de oro./ Rolex watches are made out of gold.

 

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b. DE + quien is equivalent to whose:

EXAMPLES

• ¿De quién es el auto?/ Whose is the car?
• ¿De quiénes son estos guantes?/ Whose are these gloves?

 

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c. To show a part of a whole, in is required in English and de in Spanish:

To indicate a part of a day:

• Era la una de la tarde./ It was one o'clock in the afternoon.
• Eran las ocho de la noche./ It was eight o'clock in the evening.

 

To indicate a part of a group; DE goes after a superlative:

• Max es el más generoso de la familia./ Max is the most generous in the family.
• Mi perro es el más bonito del mundo./ My dog is the cutest in the world.

 

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d. DE clarifies the noun it refers to. DE means of:

EXAMPLES

• La ciudad de Buenos Aires es la capital de la Argentina./ The city of Buenos Aires is the capital of Argentina.
• El aeropuerto de Los Angeles es muy grande./ LA airport (of LA) is very big.

 

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e. DE is used to express a cause:

EXAMPLES

• Evita murió de cáncer./ Evita died of cancer.
• Estoy verde de la envidia./ I am green with envy.

 

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f. DE is used to introduce qualities and characteristics:

EXAMPLES

• La madre Teresa fue una persona de corazón enorme./ Mother Teresa was a person who had a big heart.
• Los chistes verdes son de muy mal gusto./ The off-color jokes are in very bad taste.

 

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g. DE is used to describe a quality of something or someone:

EXAMPLES

• Pedro está de guardia en un hospital./ Pedro is working as a guard in a hospital.
• Mi hijo quiso hablarme de hombre a hombre./ My son wanted to talk to me man to man.

 

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h. DE is used to express a mood:

EXAMPLES

• El gerente estaba de mal humor./ The manager was in a bad mood.
• ¡Me puse de contento cuando me enteré del casamiento!/ I was so happy when I found out about the wedding!

 

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i. DE can be used as a synonym of sobre or acerca de (about):

EXAMPLES

Comentaron de los precios de los autos./ Comentaron sobre los precios de los autos./ Comentaron acerca de los precios de los autos./

They talked about the prices of cars.

 

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LESSONS: Customer Service II & Customer Service IIa.