The Preposition de
De is one of the most common Galician prepositions. It usually means "of" or "from".
How It Works
1. Origin: where someone or something is from
Son de Lugo. (I am from Lugo.) Este queixo é de Arzúa. (This cheese is from Arzúa.)
2. Owner
Galician has no 's. Name the thing first, then add de and the owner: o coche de Ana (Ana's car), a casa da avoa (grandmother's house).
3. Material and type
unha mesa de madeira (a wooden table), a clase de galego (the Galician class), zume de laranxa (orange juice).
4. Contents and amounts
un vaso de auga (a glass of water), un quilo de patacas (a kilo of potatoes).
5. Topic
Falamos de música. (We talk about music.)
6. Time ranges
de luns a venres (from Monday to Friday), de nove a dúas (from nine to two). The second half uses a.
Remember the contractions
Before an article, de joins it: do, da, dos, das. It also joins other short words, as in del, dela. To say "since" a moment, such as "since eight o'clock", Galician uses desde, not de. See desde.
Examples (6)
- Son de Lugo.
I'm from Lugo.
Word by Word: I-am of Lugo.
- Este é o coche de Ana.
This is Ana's car.
Word by Word: This is the car of Ana.
- Temos unha mesa de madeira.
We have a wooden table.
Word by Word: We-have a table of wood.
- Queres un vaso de auga?
Do you want a glass of water?
Word by Word: You-want a glass of water?
- Traballo de luns a venres.
I work from Monday to Friday.
Word by Word: I-work of Monday to Friday.
- Sempre falamos de música.
We always talk about music.
Word by Word: Always we-talk of music.
Common Mistakes
Using desde to say where you are from.
Son desde Lugo.Son de Lugo.Origin uses de. Desde marks a starting point in time or space, as in desde as oito (since eight o'clock).
Forgetting to contract de with a following article.
Este é o libro de o profesor.Este é o libro do profesor.When de introduces a noun with o, a, os or as, the two join: do, da, dos, das.
How It Connects
Related Patterns
- de + o = doContractions of De with the Article
De joins a following article: do, da, dos, das.
Level 1 - The Preposition en
En marks where something is, while de marks where it comes from.
Level 1 - The Preposition a
A marks where you go and completes ranges like de luns a venres.
Level 1 - del / dela / nel / nelaContractions with Pronouns
De also joins the pronouns el and ela to show whose something is.
Level 2 - ata / desde / entre / sobre / cara aMore Prepositions: Ata, Desde, Entre and Sobre
Desde, not de, marks a starting point such as "since eight".
Level 2
Learn Next
Patterns that build on this one.
- dun / nun / cunContractions with Un and UnhaLevel 2
- min / ti After PrepositionsPronouns After PrepositionsLevel 2
- antes de / despois de + InfinitiveBefore and After + InfinitiveLevel 3
- centos / mil / millónHundreds and ThousandsLevel 3
- deixar de + InfinitiveStopping: Deixar DeLevel 3
- estar de + NounEstar De for Temporary SituationsLevel 3
- pensar en / casar con / decatarse deVerbs with Fixed PrepositionsLevel 3
- malia / a pesar deDespite: Malia and a Pesar DeLevel 4
And 4 more in the full list.
Words in This Pattern
Practice The Preposition de in Bubblegum
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