Prepositions are often very challenging, not only in Spanish but in most languages as they have so many different meanings and they never, or most of the time don’t have a specific direct translation. That is why today we are learning some Spanish common expressions which use the preposition “de”, so you can use them with confidence.

Spanish common expressions with “de”

-de acuerdo

All right de acuerdo is a way to agree, and when it means in agreement, or in the same page, example:

If you discussed something about a project at work where it did not take long to get an agreement you could use

Tardamos poco en ponernos de acuerdo

It did not take long before we were in agreement.

it can also be used meaning ok…:

If my friend sends me a message and she says to meet her at 6 at the cinema, and that’s find with me I could say de acuerdo.

-de buena gana

That is keenly, when you do things with enthusiasm

Imagine that your friend asks you to dog sit her dog, and you love dogs, you could say,

Por supuesto, lo haré de buena gana

Of course I will do it keenly, maybe happily??

Of course as all good things, it also had an opposite that in this case is “de mala gana” when people do things with a bad attitude or grudgingly  Probably if you have a teenager at home you know that they might do what you are ask them to do but they do it “de mala gana”

-de día

When something happens in the daytime in Spanish pasa de día.

Imagine an accident take place and nobody seems to have seen anything, you can complain saying

No puedo creerlo, ¡era de día!

I can’t believe it, it happened in the daytime!

#note-a very popular expression that is a variant if this one is a plena luz del día, that means in broad daylight

And this one as well has its opposite that it will be when something takes place at night time, in Spanish happens de noche.

-de moda

when something is trendy in Spanish decimos que “está de moda”

Los pantalones vaqueros están de moda este año

Denim trousers are trendy this year

-de pie

We use this expression to express standing,

For example when you get the underground in peak hour “en hora punta” probably you complain:

Odio ir de pie en el metro

I hate standing on the metro.

-de rodillas

That means kneeling or on your knees,  and we can put it into a sentence to explain something like

En el pasado castigaban a los niños de rodillas

In the past they punish children by kneeling

-de repente and de pronto,

This is a 2×1, as both use the preposition “de” and both means exactly the same, suddenly.

-de veras

It is the English one really, so if one of your friend is telling you something really cool, you could ask them ¿de veras? And don’t expect an answer, sometimes we just use it as a way that we are really into the story.

And that mi amigo is all, and I mean for today’s blog, but it does not mean that we have seen all the common expressions with “de”, I just choose the ones I thought it could give you more problems, as they are not as well known. But of course there are many more, some of them:

-de esta manera                                  in this way

-de ahora en adelante                        from now on

-de buen/mal humor                          in a good/bad mood

-de nada                                             you are welcome

-de ningún modo                              by no means/in no way

-de otra manera                                in another way

-de todos modos                              anyway

-de nuevo                                          again

-de vez en cuando                            from time to time