10.1. Simple Prepositions
10.1.1. Prepositions
| SIMPLE PREPOSITION | USE(S) | EXAMPLE(S) | TRANSLATION |
|---|---|---|---|
| De [Of/From] | 1. Possession 2. Material 3. Origin 4. Function or purpose 5. Comparisons of inequality with numbers (more than, less than) 6. When the direct object of a transitive verb becomes the subject (difficulty) 7. Partitive (Some, a few, a little) 8. (OPTIONAL) Introducing infinitives where the subject and the direct object are the same (Catalan, Occitan, French, Italian) 9. (OPTIONAL) With indefinite pronouns (something, nothing) before adjectives (French, Occitan, Italian) | 1. Cuesto libro èst de Marco. 2. Lo sòlo èst de legno. 3. Carles èst de Valèntia. 4. Lèntes de sole. 5. Plus de doos libros. 6. Cuesto tèxto èst fàcile de lègere. 7. Vòllîo de la aqua. 8. So felice (de) vedere-te. 9. Qualcausa (de) differènte. | 1. This book is Marco’s. 2. The floor is wooden. 3. Carles is from Valencia. 4. Sunglasses. 5. More than two books. 6. This text is easy to read. 7. I want some water. 8. I am happy to see you. 9. Something different. |
| Ad [To/At] | 1. Location 2. Target 3. Movement to a place (Cities) 4. After verbs of motion 5. Time (Hours) 6. Distance | 1. Paula èst ad la escòla. 2. Dai lo libro ad Davide. 3. Demane vado ad Roma. 4. Ella me ajjutau ad apprèndere lo piano. 5. Arriparemos ad las nòve de la mattina. 6. Marsellîa èst ad doas horas de distantia en auto. | 1. Paula is at school. 2. I give the book to Davide. 3. Tomorrow I will go to Rome. 4. She helped me learn the piano. 5. We will arrive at nine in the morning. 6. Marseille is two hours away by car. |
| En [In] | 1. Movement to a place (Continents, nations, states, regions and big islands) 2. Time (Months and years) 3. Position (Inside) 4. Time (After / Within) | 1. Cuesta estate vado en Italia. 2. En septèmbre, complerai 20 [vinte] annos. 3. Metto mèas causas en una cassa. 4. Tornarai en 10 [dèce] minutos. | 1. This summer I will go to Italy. 2. In September, I will turn 20 [twenty] years old. 3. I put my things in a box. 4. I will return in 10 [ten] minutes. |
| Con [With] | 1. Company 2. Instrument/Tool | 1. Joco ad poker con mèo amico. 2. Escrivo con una pènna. | 1. I play poker with my friend. 2. I write with a pen. |
| Sopre [On/About] | 1. Position (On, with contact) 2. Topic | 1. Lo libro èst sopre la mesa. 2. Legei un artículo sopre la pressa tipogràfica. | 1. The book is on the table. 2. I read an article about the printing press. |
| Entre [Between] | 1. Position (Between) 2. Comparisons/Alternatives 3. Part of a whole | 1. La casa se tropa entre lo àrbore et lo flume. 2. Non pòsso elégere entre rosso aut gàlbeno. 3. Un heròe cammina entre nós. | 1. The house is found between the tree and the river. 2. I cannot choose between red or yellow. 3. A hero walks among us. |
| Sene [Without] | A lack of something | Volería una hamburghesa sene tomate. | I would like a hamburger without tomato. |
| Còntra [Against] | 1. Position (Physically against) 2. Opposition (Opinion) 3. Contrast | 1. La catèdra èst còntra la parete. 2. So còntra la initiativa. 3. La civtate pare pettitta còntra la montannîa. | 1. The chair is against the wall. 2. I am against the initiative. 3. The city looks small against the mountain. |
| Vèrso [Toward] | Direction | Lo vènto soffla vèrso lo mare. | The wind blows toward the sea. |
| Fine ad [Until/Up to] | Limit | Esperarai fine ad plus tarde. | I will wait until later. |
| Durante [During] | 1. Simultaneity 2. Duration | 1. Hai preso moltas fotos durante lo festivale. 2. Lo telèfono sonau durante hòras. | 1. I took many pictures during the festival. 2. The telephone rang for hours. |
| Mediante [By means of] | Medium | Lo pagamènto se effectua mediante carta de crédito. | Payment is made by credit card. |
| Secondo [According to] | Determination | Secondo lo inditio, lo tesoro devería èssere accuí. | According to the clue, the treasure should be here. |
| Sobto [Under/Below] | Position (Under/Below) | La borsa èst sobto la mesa. | The bag is under the table. |
| Pòs [After] | 1. Sequence 2. Time | 1. Mangîai patata pòs patata. 2. Pòs lo concèrto, tornammos ad casa. | 1. I ate potato after potato. 2. After the concert, we returned home. |
| Vía [Via/By means of] | Medium | Nos parlamos vía pòsta electrònica. | We speak to each other via email. |
| Versus [Versus] | Comparison/Opposition | La optione A versus la optione B. | Option A versus option B. |
| Dès (de) / Da [Since/From] | 1. Point of origin 2. Duration (Actions that started in the past and still happen) 3. Extension (From...up to…) | 1. Se vede la casa dès de la estrata. 2. Studio japonese dès de 5 [cinque] annos. 3. Dès de 5 [cinque] mètros fine ad 10 [dèce] mètros. | 1. The house can be seen from the street. 2. I have been studying Japanese for 5 [five] years. 3. From 5 [five] meters up to 10 [ten] meters. |
- With the verb "parlare", use the preposition "de". For example: "Estao parlando de libros." which means "I am talking about books." [Literally: "I am speaking of books."] That being said, "parlare sopre" is also possible, following the possibilities in Spanish and Portuguese.
- To differentiate between the preposition “da” and the conjugation of the verb “dare” in the third person, the letter A with a grave accent mark is used (“dà”). For example: Marco dà lo libro ad Elena. [Marco gives the book to Elena.]
10.1.2. Personal "Ad"?
The Spanish language has a concept called the "personal 'a'", which is the use of the preposition "a" before a direct object that is a specific person, animals or personified nouns. For example, in Spanish, "Veo a Juan" means "I see Juan".
This concept does not exist in Neolatin or the majority of other Romance languages.
It is interesting to note that, although this concept does not exist in other Romance languages of the Iberian peninsula (Portuguese or Catalan), this concept does exist in Sardinian, Neapolitan and Sicilian. More specifically, the use of the preposition "a" before a human direct object. For example, in Neapolitan, "Aggio visto a Giuseppe", which means "I saw Giuseppe".
The presence of this concept also introduces the requirement of an indirect object pronoun, unlike other Romance languages. Observe the sentence "Le doy el libro a Juan", which means "I give the book to Juan". The preposition "a" alone is too vague, even though it would be used with "dar", given that it is necessary to mark a human direct object. In other words, the form "Doy el libro a Juan" is always incorrect in Spanish. For comparison, in Italian, the sentence would simply be "Do il libro a Juan", without the obligatory indirect object pronoun.
Another example of note is the Spanish sentence "Saco al perro a pasear" which means "I take the dog for a walk". There are two uses of the preposition "a", but they each have different meanings. The first "a" is the "personal 'a'", in reference to the animal. The second one is used in association with motion. As a comparison, the sentence in Italian would be "Porto il cane a fare una passeggiata".
Aside from not existing in the majority of Romance languages, it can confuse beginners into associating the Neolatin preposition "ad" with verbs that never required it. For example, to say "I need to convince others", the translation would be "Necessito convéncere los altros". However, some verbs require a specific preposition when acting on a direct object. For example, the verb "tardare" requires "ad", such as in "Tardan ad arripare", which means "They take long to arrive".
The concept of a personal "ad" does not exist in Neolatin. Please do not use it.