When To Us "de" And When Not To Use "de" | SpanishDict Answers

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HomeQ&AWhen to us "de" and when not to use "de"When to us "de" and when not to use "de"2votes

Why do you use "de" with "el libro de amor" but you don't use "de" with "la comida mexicana"

7559 viewsupdated Jun 3, 2017posted by Bonnie8064Welcome to the forum.:) - bosquederoble, Jun 2, 2017

5 Answers

5votes

At the base of it, because amor is a noun and mexicana is an adjective.

Nouns must be connected with de. Sometimes we do that in English:

La comida de México. The food of Mexico.

But sometimes in English, we use a noun as an adjective, that is not normally done in Spanish.

The airline pilot. El piloto de aerolíneas.

There are a few exceptions, like rush hour= hora pico or hora punta. In this case since they are both nouns, in plural you don't change the second noun- las horas pico. These exceptions are not generally considered beginner level Spanish.

Much more difficult is to know whether to include an article, use just a single noun or a plural one.

updated Jun 2, 2017edited by bosquederobleposted by bosquederoble3votes

In un libro mexicano we have the noun libro and the adjective mexicano. We don't use "De" Examples: el árbol alto (alto is an adjective) la mujer delgada ( delgada is an adjective) los bancos verdes ( verdes is an adjective)

In English we can use a noun as an adjective. Examples: the language teacher (language is a noun but functions as an adjective ) a metal chair ( metal is a noun but functions as an adjective) the leather shoes ( leather is a noun but functions as an adjective)

We can't use nouns as adjectives in Spanish. To use them we usually use the word "de" and we call them ( as far as I remember from high-school) frase adjetiva.

Examples: el árbol de papel. the paper book la mujer de plástico the plastic woman los bancos de madera the wood(en) benches la profesora de idiomas the language teacher la silla de metal the metal chair los zapatos de cuero the leather shoes etc. etc. etc.

Please feel free to correct my English

updated Jun 5, 2017posted by polenta13votes

Most of the time, "de" can mean either "of" or "from" depending on what you mean in English. Soy de "España." (I'm from Spain) El escritorio es de madera. (the desk is of wood or wooden" A cup of coffee. "una taza de café.

Besides this usage, there are a lot of things that are idiomatic, and you use "de" where "of" or "from" doesn't appear in English.

Antes de---before

delante de ---in front of

Acordarse de ----to remember, And many many others. Here's a short article by Gerald Erichson who is the formost English speaking Spanish scholar. He also writes a daily blog. Remember there is much more about this which can be found by Googling "Uses of "de" in Spanish."

Link to "de"

updated Jun 2, 2017edited by Daniela2041posted by Daniela2041Dani: Gerald Erichson has from spanish.about.com has been one of my favorite sources for learning for a long time. I am glad to know that you highly regard him. I wan't positive, although it sure seemed like he knew his stuff. But what do I know? :) - DilKen, Jun 2, 2017I noticed that Spanish.about.com changed to ThoughtCo.com awhile back. - DilKen, Jun 2, 20171vote

Timely topic! I was just reading in my textbook regarding relative pronouns, and saw this sentence "El museu de que te hablé antes es el famous Museo De Oro".

If I was writing this or speaking this phrase, I would have omitted the word "de". Is this just a nuance or am I missing a grammatical rule of some type? Thanks so much!

updated Jun 4, 2017posted by philsjwfuP: No, it makes perfect sense. The museum about which or of which we spoke before. In Spanish the de (or a, para, con, en, etc.) always has to go before que, el que, la que, etc. - DilKen, Jun 3, 2017Nailed it again, Ken. - Daniela2041, Jun 3, 2017it's true what k says. Remember we many times use the preposition before and not after like you do in English. - polenta1, Jun 3, 20171vote

¿De dónde eres? Where are you from? "de" is at the beginning, "from " is after or let's say at the end. This surprises many Spanish speakers a lot until we get used to it (some people never get it ). ¿Para qué quieres un lápiz? What do you want a pencil for? "para" is before but "for" is after. El museo del que te hablé es grande. The museum (that) I spoke to you about is big. "de o del" goes begore but "about" goes after. El auto detrás del cual yo voy es un Fiat. The car I go behind is a Fiat. "detrás" goes before but "behind" goes after.

Please feel free to correct my English. I would help me a lot.

updated Jun 4, 2017edited by polenta1posted by polenta1🚀 Remove adsSpanishDictionary.com is the world's most popular Spanish-English dictionary, translation, and learning website.FEATURESTranslationConjugationVocabularyLearn SpanishGrammarWord of the DayABOUTAbout UsPrivacyTermsSite MapHelpContact UsSOCIAL NETWORKSFacebookXXInstagramAPPSAppleiOSAndroidAndroid IXL learning logo