Preposition Sundae
Attach the right preposition to every verb — and hear when a swap changes the meaning.
Spanish verb-preposition pairs are fixed collocations, not logic puzzles: it's pensar en (think about), soñar con (dream of), insistir en, depender de, confiar en — Pienso en mi familia cada vez que viajo, Siempre he soñado con vivir en el extranjero. Swapping the preposition can flip the meaning entirely: acabar de means to have just done something (acabo de terminar el informe), while acabar con means to destroy or put an end to (el ruido va a acabar con mi paciencia). For formal speech there's a matching set of compound prepositions — con respecto a, en relación con, a partir de — where the street just says sobre eso.
Below: the pairs that flip meaning, the fixed locutions, what locals say instead — and a way to practice them out loud in a real exchange, no gap-fill exercises.
The warm-up pack
The small words that change everything they're attached to.
01 · The professional way to bring something up
Con respecto a su solicitud, la respuesta llegará mañana.
Regarding your request, the answer will arrive tomorrow.
Con respecto a is the formal opener for pinning a sentence to a topic — in daily chat, sobre does the same job in half the words.
02 · Marking exactly when a rule kicks in
A partir de enero, cambiarán las tarifas.
Starting in January, the rates will change.
A partir de fixes a starting point in time or space — cleaner than saying 'from January onward' with a full clause.
03 · The verb that only takes 'en'
Pienso en mi familia cada vez que viajo.
I think about my family every time I travel.
Pensar always pairs with en, never de or a — these verb-preposition pairs are fixed, so it's worth learning pensar en as one unit, not two separate words.
04 · The verb that only takes 'con'
Siempre he soñado con vivir en el extranjero.
I have always dreamed of living abroad.
Soñar con, not soñar de — English 'dream of' misleads you into the wrong preposition here. Learn the pair together and the mistake stops happening.
05 · One preposition, two unrelated meanings
El ruido va a acabar con mi paciencia.
The noise is going to destroy my patience.
Acabar con means to put an end to something — completely different from acabar de, which means to have just finished. Same verb, different preposition, unrelated meanings.
06 · The other half of that same verb
Acabo de terminar el informe, llegó justo a tiempo.
I just finished the report — it arrived just in time.
This is acabar de doing its actual job: something that happened moments ago. Mix it up with acabar con and you've accidentally said your patience just finished, not ran out.
07 · The preposition that never lets go
Todo depende de la decisión del comité.
Everything depends on the committee's decision.
Depender always takes de — English 'depend on' will keep pulling you toward en if you're not careful. Fix the pair in your head as depender de, one piece.
08 · The 'not to mention' opener
Por no hablar del coste, el proyecto es inviable.
Not to mention the cost, the project isn't workable.
This is por doing rhetorical work, not literal — you're adding a point while pretending to skip it. Useful for building an argument without sounding like you're piling on.
09 · Respect, aimed at someone specific
Mostró gran respeto para con sus colegas.
He showed great respect toward his colleagues.
Para con means 'toward' a person — a formal, slightly literary pairing you'll see in writing more than you'll hear it, but worth recognizing when you do.
10 · The accident you didn't mean
Sin querer, borré los archivos importantes.
Without meaning to, I deleted the important files.
Sin + infinitive at the start of a sentence flags that whatever follows was unintentional — it's how you own a mistake without sounding careless.
11 · Leaving without the goodbye
Se marchó sin decir una sola palabra.
He left without saying a single word.
Sin + infinitive again, this time marking something noticeably absent — the silence is the point of the sentence.
FLUENT
Finally, someone to talk to in Spanish.
Ten-minute spoken lessons. A teacher who answers back — and gently fixes what you got wrong.
First 10 lessons freeandbefluent.com/spanish/preposition-sundaeRegional Spanish
Textbooks teach one word. Locals use several — pick your region's and stay consistent.
| English | Mexico | Argentina |
|---|---|---|
| I just arrived | acabo de llegar | recién llegué |
| about that / as for that | sobre eso | en cuanto a eso |
| without meaning to / without realizing | sin querer queriendo | sin darme cuenta |
Watch out
The part no drill site can do
Carla
Your grammar teacher for this pack
No gap-fills, nothing to complete. In the Preposition Sundae lessons you talk, and Carla fires the verbs at you in English — think, dream, depend, insist — and you answer in Spanish with the preposition already attached: pienso en…, sueño con…, depende de…. Then she flips one on you: what's the difference between acabaron con el proyecto and acaban de terminar el proyecto? You explain it out loud, then upgrade a casual sobre eso into a boardroom-ready con respecto a — until the right preposition arrives with the verb, not two seconds after it.
Blank mid-sentence and nothing bad happens — she waits. That's the practice, without unnecessary judgement.
Finish the 6 lessons and Preposition Sundae is yours — earned, not given.
First 10 lessons free · 10-minute spoken lessons · your AI coaching team remembers you
Quick answers
Pensar en — the preposition is fixed: Pienso en mi familia cada vez que viajo. Colloquially Mexicans stretch it with ando pensando en… for a state of mind, and Argentines command it with voseo: pensá en lo que te dije.
One preposition, opposite worlds. Acabar de + infinitive = to have just done something: Acabo de terminar el informe. Acabar con = to finish something off, destroy it: El ruido va a acabar con mi paciencia.
With con, it means to rely on: Contar con su apoyo fue decisivo para nosotros — in speech, cuento con vos in Argentina. Without the preposition, contar is just counting or telling: tenemos que contar a los invitados antes de salir.
Soñar con — dreaming of someone or something takes con, never en: Siempre he soñado con vivir en el extranjero; soñé contigo anoche (I dreamt about you last night).
They're formal compound prepositions that pin a sentence to a topic: Con respecto a su solicitud, la respuesta llegará mañana; En relación con el contrato, hay varios puntos pendientes. In casual speech locals drop to plain sobre: sobre eso, te aviso luego.
