Modern Spanish Grammar: A Practical Guide

PREPOSITIONS 25.14But:5But:Necesito un amigo.I need a friend.Busco tres rusos para ayudarme con un proyecto internacional.I’m looking for three Russians to help me with an international project.Hay que liberar a la economía.The economy must be liberated.Tengo dos hermanas.I have two sisters.La paz siguió a la guerra.Peace followed war.Recomendé mi amigo al jefe.I recommended my friend to the boss.Two verbs appear to change their meaning substantially according to whether they areused with or without the personal a, but they do follow the above principles. Querer auna amiga means ‘to love a (girl)friend’ (a specified individual) whereas querer unaamiga means ‘to want a (girl)friend’ (i.e. someone unspecified to be a (girl)friend);tener dos hijos means ‘to have two children’ (a general relation between subject andobject not denoting any influence of the subject on the object) whereas tengo a mihijo en casa means ‘I’m keeping my son at home’ (a more active relationship betweensubject and object).25.1.1.2A introducing an indirect objectMateo dio un beso a su madre.Mateo gave his mother a kiss.A Luis y Ana les gusta viajar. (see 58.1)Luis and Ana like travelling.25.1.1.3A expressing direction towardsFuimos al cine.We went to the cinema.25.1.1.4A expressing locationThe preposition most often used to express location is en (see 25.1.14.2, 25.1.14.3), buta is used in a number of expressions denoting a point in time or place. Examples are:Timea (cinco minutos) de aquí (see 39.3) ‘(five minutes) from here’a las cinco ‘at five o’clock’al mismo tiempo ‘at the same time’al día siguiente ‘on the following day’Placea diez kilómetros de Madrid ‘ten kilometres from Madrid’al final ‘at the end’118