Word formsdifficulty 2
complex-prepositions
Sentencepreposiciones compuestas — adverb + `de` (or `a`) form fixed multi-word prepositions: dentro de, después de, antes de, alrededor de, fuera de, encima de, debajo de, cerca de, lejos de, a través de, en lugar de, a pesar de, junto a. Treat the whole phrase as one preposition; the `de` is mandatory and never contracts (`dentro del` only when `el` is the article that follows, never as part of the phrase itself).
Examples
Dentro de la casa.
→ Inside the house.
dentro de = inside; de is part of the preposition.
A pesar de la lluvia.
→ Despite the rain.
Idiomatic complex preposition meaning `despite`.
Cerca del parque.
→ Near the park.
cerca de + el → cerca del (mandatory contraction kicks in on the article that follows).
Words in this rule
| Word | English |
|---|---|
| dentro de | within |
| a pesar de | despite |
| a través de | through |
| alrededor de | around |
| antes de | before |
| cerca de | near |
| debajo de | under |
| después de | after |
| en lugar de | instead of |
| encima de | on top of |
| fuera de | outside of |
| junto a | next to |
| lejos de | far from |
Practice Spanish in context
Write AI sentences that force each case of complex-prepositions using your Easy vocab — or read articles where we underline the words that trigger each rule.