de (preposició)

Basic Preposition De

Level 1

De can express origin, possession, material or the subject of a discussion.

How It Works

Soc de Lleida identifies origin. El llibre de la Marta identifies whose book it is, and una taula de fusta names the material. Catalan commonly puts the possessor after the thing possessed with de; it does not use an English-style apostrophe-s.

Before a vowel or silent h, de usually becomes d': d'aigua, d'hivern. Before el and els, it normally contracts to del and dels. If the article itself elides, keep de l': de l'amic.

Some verbs require de as part of their construction, such as parlar de and recordar-se de. Here the preposition cannot be chosen simply from an English translation. When a whole de-complement is already known, en can sometimes replace it.

Examples (3)

  1. La Júlia és de Reus.

    Júlia is from Reus.

  2. És el cotxe del meu germà.

    It is my brother’s car.

  3. Necessito un got de vidre.

    I need a glass cup.

How It Connects

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de (preposició)Level 1Basic Preposition De

Learn This First

Form del and dels when de precedes a masculine article.

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