From Gerald Erichsen,
Your Guide to Spanish Language.
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Prepositions can be handy words for showing the relationship among the various words in a sentence. But with only something like two dozen prepositions available for use, you can find yourself quite limited if you have to limit yourself to simple prepositions to indicate the connection that a noun or pronoun might have with another word.

Fortunately, both Spanish and English have a wide range of prepositional phrases that function in much the same way as simple prepositions. (Although the term "prepositional phrase" is used here, some grammarians prefer the term "compound preposition.") An example can be seen in a sentence such as Roberto fue al mercado en lugar de Pablo ("Robert went to the market instead of Paul"). Although en lugar de is made up of three words, it functions much the same as one word and has a distinct prepositional meaning as a phrase. In other words, like single-word prepositions, prepositional phrases show the connection between the noun (or pronoun) that follows and other words in the sentence. (Although you could probably figure out what en lugar de means by translating the individual words, that isn't true of all prepositional phrases.)

The list below shows some of the most common phrases that function as prepositions. Prepositions can also be used in phrases that are used as adverbs, as explained in this lesson.

abajo de — underneath

abordo de — aboard

a cambio de — in exchange or trade for

a cargo de — in charge of

a causa de — because of

acerca de — about, concerning

además de — besides, in addition to, as well as

adentro de — inside

a disposición de — at the disposal of

a excepción de — with the exception of, except for

a falta de — due to the lack of, in the absence of

a fin de — with the goal or intent of, in order to

afuera de — outside

a fuerza de — by means of

al contrario de — contrary to

al estilo de — in the style of, in the manner of

al frente de — at the forefront of

al lado de — next to

alrededor de — around

antes de — before (in time, not location)

a pesar de — in spite of

a prueba de — roughly equivalent to the English suffix "-proof"

a punto de — on the verge of

a trevés de — through, across

bajo condición de que — on the condition that

cerca de — near

con rumbo a — in the direction of

de acuerdo con — in agreement with

debajo de — underneath, under

delante de — in front of

dentro de — within

después de — after

detrás de — behind, after

en caso de — in case of

encima de — on top of

en contra de — against

en forma de — in the shape of

enfrente de — opposite

en lugar de — instead of, in the place of

en medio de — in the middle of

en vez de — instead of

en vías de — on the way to

fuera de — except for

frente a — opposite, towards

lejos de — far from

por causa de — because of

por razón de — because of