Do you know how to use the preposition con (most commonly translated as "with") in Spanish? Let's explore some of the various ways of using this preposition correctly.
Like its English counterpart, the first use of the preposition con that most likely comes to mind is to introduce the concept of accompaniment by someone or something. We can find this use in the name of some of our series such as Aprendiendo con Carlos, Paseando con Karen, and also in the words of Ester from El Aula Azul:
Quédate con nosotros hoy
Stay with us today,
y aprende algo nuevo en nuestra clase.
and learn something new in our class.
Captions 4-5, Clase Aula Azul - Información con subjuntivo e indicativo
Play Caption
The way con is used here is no different from the way we use "with" to describe accompaniment in English. However, it is worth mentioning that stranded prepositions (prepositions separated from their objects and often placed at the end of the sentence) do not occur in Spanish. Thus, a question like the one below must place the preposition con next to its object quién at the beginning of the sentence, as opposed to the manner in which "who" and "with" can be separated in informal English.
¿Y con quién vives en Alemania?
And who do you live with in Germany?
Caption 21, La rutina diaria - La mañana
Play Caption
The preposition con can also be employed to introduce the means or tools used to do an activity or achieve something.
Hazlo primero con lápiz y después con plumón.
Do it first in pencil and then with a marker.
Caption 17, Manos a la obra - Separadores de libros: Pikachu
Play Caption
Y os puedo asegurar que
And I can assure you that,
con paciencia y con disciplina se consigue todo.
with patience and discipline, one can achieve anything.
Caption 73, Fermín y los gatos - Mi gata Bimba
Play Caption
We also use the preposition con in Spanish to introduce the way something is done or how it should be done:
¡Por acá, Guillermina, con cuidado!
Through here, Guillermina, carefully!
Caption 30, Guillermina y Candelario - Una película de terror
Play Caption
Notice that the word cuidado can also appear before con in phrases such as the following:
Cuidado con el perro.
Beware of the dog.
Or, as Karen warns us in her video:
Mucho cuidado con lo que escribes.
[Be] very careful with what you write.
Caption 38, Aprendiendo con Karen - Útiles escolares
Play Caption
When the preposition con is followed by an infinitive, it can function as a gerund (the -ing form of a verb, which functions as a noun):
Con decir perdón es suficiente.
Saying you're sorry is enough.
Caption 20, Muñeca Brava - 47 Esperanzas
Play Caption
Con is also the dependent preposition (preposition that depends upon or must follow a particular noun, verb, or adjective) after certain verbs such as terminar (to put an end to something), bastar (to be enough or suffice) or comparar (to compare), to name a few.
Terminar con mi noviazgo no parecía tan complicado.
Ending my relationship didn't seem so complicated.
Caption 61, Los Años Maravillosos - Capítulo 8
Play Caption
Y me basta con saber que estás allí
And it's enough to know that you're there
Caption 19, Franco De Vita - Mi sueño
Play Caption
A pesar de que lo... la cultura azteca también
Although the... the Aztec culture also
tenía su preciosismo no se compara con los Mayas...
had its beauty, it can't be compared to the Mayans...
Captions 46-47, Antonio Vargas - Artista - ilustración
Play Caption
Finally, the preposition con can additionally introduce a phrase that stands in contrast to the following clause, taking on a meaning similar to "although" or "despite."
Esta mujer aquí donde la ve,
This woman who stands here before you,
con lo simpática que parece, es como un general.
as nice as she seems, is like a general.
Captions 62-63, Los casos de Yabla - El perrito malcriado
Play Caption
That's all for this lesson. We hope it has been clear for you and you can now use this preposition con más seguridad y precisión (with greater confidence and accuracy)! And, don't forget to send us your comments and suggestions!
In one of Yabla's videos, Spanish veterinarian, Jesús López, uses two interesting and very similar words:
Cualquiera puede traer cualquier animal.
Anyone can bring any animal.
Caption 8, Centro de Recuperación de la Fauna Salvaje - Veterinario Jesús López
Play Caption
The Spanish words, cualquiera (anyone) and cualquier (any), may look very much alike, but their functions happen to be very different. While cualquiera is an indefinite pronoun, cualquier is an indefinite adjective.
For that reason, whenever the adjective, cualquier, is used, it must be accompanied by a noun, e.g. cualquier animal (any animal). Let's take a look at these examples:
En cualquier caso, los datos de España no son nada alentadores.
In any case, the data from Spain is not encouraging at all.
Captions 27-28, 3R - Campaña de reciclaje
Play Caption
Mira los niños, juegan con globos de cualquier color
Look at the kids, they play with balloons of any color
Caption 9, Café Tacuba - Mediodía
Play Caption
¿Puede venir cualquier persona aquí? -Sí.
Can any person come here? -Yes.
Caption 5, 75 minutos - Gangas para ricos
Play Caption
On the other hand, the pronoun, cualquiera (anyone), should not be used to accompany a noun, but rather to substitute it, as cualquiera means "anyone." For example, you can use the pronoun, cualquiera, to substitute the phrase, cualquier persona, in the previous example:
¿Puede venir cualquiera aquí? -Sí.
Can anyone come here? -Yes.
Here is another example containing the pronoun, cualquiera:
No cualquiera podía ser caballero. O sea...
Not just anyone could be a knight. I mean...
Caption 17, Antonio Vargas - Artista - ilustración
Play Caption
Now, to further complicate the matter, Spanish has a common plural form for both the adjective, cualquier, and the pronoun, cualquiera, which is cualesquiera. Although the use of this plural form for both the adjective and the pronoun is uncommon in everyday speech, let's go ahead and transform the previous examples into their plural forms as an excercise. You will note that their English translations are identical to their singular equivalents.
For the adjective, cualquier:
¿Pueden venir cualesquiera personas aquí? -Sí.*
Can any person come here? -Yes.
For the pronoun, cualquiera:
No cualesquiera podían ser caballeros.
Not just anyone could be a knight.
* As a side note, a shorter version for the adjective, cualesquier, also exists, but this is even less common and can generally only be found in old literature.
Finally, and very interestingly, there is one instance in which the word, cualquiera (and its plural, cualesquiera), can be used as a qualitative adjective meaning "insignificant" or "irrelevant." When used in this manner, the adjective always comes after the noun rather than before it. This use is equivalent to the English expression "any old" or "just any." Let's see an example.
Sólo espera, que hoy no será un día cualquiera
Just wait, because today won't be any old day
Caption 49, Cuarto poder - Aquí no se está jugando
Play Caption
This adjective is most commonly used in negative phrases:
Este no es un perro cualquiera; es el perro de mi padre.
This is not just any dog. It's my father's dog.
No era un tipo cualquiera; era el jefe de la tribu.
He wasn't just any guy. He was the tribe's chief.
By extension, however unfairly, the expressions, un cualquiera and una cualquiera, can mean "a nobody" and "a prostitute" (or low class or sexually promiscous woman), respectively. You can find an example in our Argentinian telenovela, Muñeca Brava:
Pero a mí no me va a ofender porque yo no soy una cualquiera.
But you're not going to disrespect me because I am not a floozy.
Captions 83-84, Muñeca Brava - 43 La reunión
Play Caption
This is the end of the lesson. Thank you for reading, and don't forget to send us you comments and suggestions.
Did you see the beautiful deck of playing cards drawn by Antonio Vargas, depicting the conquistadors as well as the four big historical tribes of Mexico (Maya, Olmec, Toltec, and Aztec)? He explains to us that, although very scholarly, the Mayans were no slouches on the battlefield:
Y también se ponían sus buenos catorrazos,
And they also gave good blows,
pero eran un pueblo de mucho conocimiento...
but they were a people of much knowledge...
Captions 39-40, Antonio Vargas - Artista - ilustración
Play Caption
Have a look at one of our previous lessons, —azo: a painful suffix, and you will learn that the suffix "-azo" gives the meaning "a blow/hit from." For example un palazo is a hit with a stick (palo) or a shovel (pala), and a tortazo is what you receive when you get in the way of a moving torta (cake)!
So what about these catorrazos that Antonio refers to, and that we translated simply as "blows"? Sources tell us that the root word is cate, a rather obscure Spanish word synonymous with golpe, and which itself means "hit" or "blow,"—which would give us a "blow" by way of a "hit" (or a hit by way of a blow). Obviously a bit redundant!
Catorrazo is very colloquial, and is primarily heard in Mexico. In actuality, bilingual dictionaries define it as simply a "punch," a "blow," or even "a hit with a stick or billy club."
Here's an interesting tidbit: Since the word for "fist" is puño, we might be tempted to also try puñazo for "punch." However, the word you are most likely to hear (and what you will find in the dictionary) is slightly different, "puñetazo." However, puñazo is also seen occasionally, and, in Latin America, the word puño itself doubles for "punch" as well.
French
German
Italian
Chinese
English
English 
Français
Deutsch
Español
Italiano
Português
