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.
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Regional 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.
