Spanish Prepositions Practice

Q: What is the personal a and when do I need it?

When the direct object of a verb is a specific person (or a beloved pet), Spanish inserts an a before it: Veo a mi hermano, Conozco a tu profesora. English has no equivalent, which is why omitting it is the single most common preposition mistake. Things never take it: Veo la tele, Busco mis llaves.

Q: Is it "Voy a Madrid" or "Voy en Madrid"?

Voy a Madrid. With movement verbs like ir, venir and llegar, the destination takes a. En is for static location — where you already are: Estoy en Madrid, Vivo en Madrid. Mixing them up ("Voy en Madrid") is one of the most common learner errors at this level.

Q: Do days of the week take a preposition?

No — and this trips up almost everyone. "On Monday" is simply el lunes, with the article and no preposition: Tengo clase el lunes. Use los for repetition: los lunes = "on Mondays." Saying "en lunes" is a direct translation from English and always wrong. Months, by contrast, do take en: en octubre.

Q: What about por and para?

They're the hardest preposition pair in Spanish, so we only touch them here — a recipient takes para (es para ti), while por covers cause and exchange. For the full contrast, with all the classic use cases drilled one by one, head to our dedicated Por vs Para Practice page.

Q: Why is it "soñar con" and not "soñar de"?

Some Spanish verbs are welded to a specific preposition that you can't translate from English: soñar con (dream about), pensar en (think about), depender de (depend on), enamorarse de (fall in love with), casarse con (marry), asistir a (attend), tratar de (try to). Learn each verb and its preposition together, as if they were one word.

Q: Are these exercises free?

Yes. All 30 exercises run right in your browser, need no signup, and give you a clear explanation after every answer.

Question 1

Este verano vamos ___ Italia.

Accepted Answer

a. Movement toward a destination takes a: vamos a Italia. Using en with a verb of movement is the classic trap — en is for being somewhere, not going there.

Question 2

¿Vienes ___ cine con nosotros?

Accepted Answer

al. A + el always contracts to al — it's mandatory, not optional. Writing "a el cine" is a real error, not just informal.

Question 3

Estas son las llaves ___ coche.

Accepted Answer

del. De + el contracts to del, always: las llaves del coche. Coche is masculine, so de la doesn't fit either.

Question 4

Veo ___ mi abuela todos los domingos.

Accepted Answer

a. When the direct object is a person, Spanish inserts the personal a: veo a mi abuela. English has nothing like it, which is why learners drop it.

Question 5

Mis padres viven ___ Valencia.

Accepted Answer

en. Static location — being somewhere — takes en: viven en Valencia. A would only work with movement, like van a Valencia.

Question 6

Mañana voy ___ Madrid en tren.

Accepted Answer

a. Ir is a movement verb, so the destination takes a: voy a Madrid. "Voy en Madrid" is the trap — en only marks where you already are (or the transport: en tren).

Question 7

Mi cumpleaños es ___ octubre.

Accepted Answer

en. Months take en: en octubre, en verano. Don't confuse this with days of the week, which take no preposition at all.

Question 8

Tengo clase de yoga ___ lunes.

Accepted Answer

el. Days of the week take the article, never a preposition: el lunes = "on Monday." "En lunes" is a direct-from-English trap.

Question 9

Este es el perro ___ mi vecina.

Accepted Answer

de. Spanish has no apostrophe-s; possession is built with de: el perro de mi vecina = "my neighbor's dog."

Question 10

Compramos una mesa ___ madera para la cocina.

Accepted Answer

de. Material is expressed with de: una mesa de madera, un anillo de oro. Con would suggest the table comes with wood, not that it's made of it.

Question 11

Sofía es ___ Argentina, pero vive en Sevilla.

Accepted Answer

de. Origin with ser takes de: es de Argentina. Desde is a trap — it marks the starting point of a movement or a period, not where someone is from.

Question 12

Siempre voy al trabajo ___ autobús.

Accepted Answer

en. Means of transport take en: en autobús, en coche, en avión. English "by bus" pulls you toward por, but the only common exception is a pie (on foot).

Question 13

¿Quieres venir al parque ___ nosotros?

Accepted Answer

con. Company is expressed with con: con nosotros, con mis amigos. Only mí and ti fuse with it into special forms (conmigo, contigo).

Question 14

No puedo trabajar ___ mi ordenador.

Accepted Answer

sin. Sin is the opposite of con: "without." The sentence is negative in meaning — I can't work without it — so con would say the opposite.

Question 15

¿Vienes al concierto ___?

Accepted Answer

conmigo. Con + mí fuses into the single word conmigo — "con mí" doesn't exist. Contigo would mean "with you," which makes no sense here.

Question 16

Necesito hablar ___ ahora mismo.

Accepted Answer

contigo. Con + ti fuses into contigo — "con ti" and "con tú" are both impossible. Only mí and ti do this; con él and con ella stay separate.

Question 17

Trabajo ___ las nueve hasta las cinco.

Accepted Answer

desde. Desde marks the starting point and pairs with hasta for the end point: desde las nueve hasta las cinco = "from nine until five."

Question 18

El banco está ___ la farmacia y el supermercado.

Accepted Answer

entre. Entre means "between" and naturally pairs with y: entre la farmacia y el supermercado. Sobre would put the bank on top of them.

Question 19

Deja los documentos ___ la mesa, por favor.

Accepted Answer

sobre. Sobre means "on top of": sobre la mesa. (It also means "about" — un libro sobre historia.) Entre would put the documents between things.

Question 20

Siempre me ducho antes de ___ a trabajar.

Accepted Answer

ir. After a preposition, Spanish uses the infinitive, never the gerund: antes de ir. English "before going" is exactly the trap — "antes de yendo" is impossible.

Question 21

Después de ___, salimos a dar un paseo.

Accepted Answer

cenar. Same rule as antes de: a preposition takes the infinitive — después de cenar = "after having dinner." The -ando/-iendo form never follows a preposition.

Question 22

Anoche soñé ___ mi abuela.

Accepted Answer

con. Soñar is welded to con: soñar con algo/alguien. English "to dream of/about" pulls you toward de or sobre, but only con is correct.

Question 23

Últimamente pienso mucho ___ las vacaciones.

Accepted Answer

en. "To think about something" is pensar en: pienso en las vacaciones. (Pensar de exists, but only for asking opinions: ¿Qué piensas de…?)

Question 24

Todo depende ___ tiempo que haga mañana.

Accepted Answer

del. Depender takes de — English "depend on" tempts you into en. And since tiempo carries el, you must contract: depende del tiempo.

Question 25

Mi prima se casa ___ un chico de Bilbao.

Accepted Answer

con. You marry with someone in Spanish: casarse con. English "married to" makes a the tempting wrong answer.

Question 26

Voy a tratar ___ llegar antes de las ocho.

Accepted Answer

de. "To try to do something" is tratar de + infinitive: trato de llegar. English "try to" pushes you toward a, but tratar demands de.

Question 27

Which sentence uses the wrong preposition after the verb?

Accepted Answer

Asistí en una boda el sábado.. Asistir is welded to a: asistí a una boda. English "attend" takes no preposition at all, so learners guess en for the event — that's the trap.

Question 28

Which sentence has an a/en error?

Accepted Answer

Mañana voy en Madrid.. With movement verbs like ir the destination takes a: voy a Madrid. "Voy en Madrid" mixes up going somewhere with being somewhere.

Question 29

Which sentence is missing a required a?

Accepted Answer

Conozco tu hermano.. A specific person as direct object always takes the personal a: Conozco a tu hermano. Objects and things (mis llaves) never do — that's the whole rule.

Question 30

Choose the correct preposition: "Este regalo es ___ ti."

Accepted Answer

para. A recipient — someone a thing is destined for — takes para: es para ti. Por would make it about cause or exchange; that whole contrast has its own practice page.

Spanish Prepositions Practice

The rule, in plain English.

Practice.

Other topics.

Por vs Para Practice

Gustar Practice

Question Words Practice

Common questions.