Antonyms and Synonyms
Pronouns
A pronoun that follows a preposition is called the object of a preposition; in English, these pronouns are the same as any other object (indirect or direct) pronoun. In Spanish, however, there is a special case of pronouns that must be used whenever replacing a noun that follows a preposition. The pronouns in Table
1 are formally called
pronombres tónicos, but it is easier to think of this case as the “prepositional pronouns.” Notice that the pronouns used after a preposition are exactly like subject pronouns, with the exceptions of
mí and
ti. Also notice that
mí has an accent mark, but
ti does not.
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As you'll notice in the examples below, these pronouns may sound strange to the ears of an English speaker because the pronouns used after a preposition sound like direct and indirect object pronouns in English and like subject pronouns in Spanish (except for mí and ti).
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La clase de álgebra es mejor para ella.
-
The algebra class is best for her.
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Quiero viajar con ellos porque ellos conocen bien la nación.
-
I want to travel with them because they know the nation well.
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Elena nos invita a nosotros porque somos buenos amigos.
-
She invites us because we are good friends.
When the preposition con is followed by the pronoun mí, the two words join to become a single word: conmigo. Note that the accent mark disappears from mí when -go is added. Conmigo is translated as “with me” and must be used whenever con is followed by mí. The same thing happens when con is followed by ti: Contigo means “with you” and must be used whenever the preposition con is followed by ti.
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Alejandro debe explorar conmigo porque yo conozco todas las cuevas de Guadix.
-
Alejandro should explore with me because I know all the caves of Guadix.
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Memo no quiere bailar contigo. Él desea bailar conmigo.
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Memo doesn't want to dance with you. He wants to dance with me.
