¡Hola! Welcome back.
In our last lesson, you learned how to ask for cooperation with phrases like recoge tus juguetes (pick up your toys). That was a fantastic step towards teamwork! Now, let's build on that. Once your son has picked up a toy, you'll need to tell him where to put it.
Today's lesson focuses on four essential location words: dentro (inside), fuera (outside), arriba (up/above), and abajo (down/below). Mastering these words will make tidying up, playing games like hide-and-seek, and simply talking about where things are much easier and more interactive.
1. The Four Key Words: Up, Down, Inside, Outside
Let's start by hearing these words in a simple, catchy way. This will help you get a feel for the pronunciation.
Where is my cat? Prepositions of Place🐈 English/ Spanish
The video 'Where is my cat? Prepositions of Place' from the channel Learning Spanish with Johanna is made for learners like you and your son. It introduces our key words clearly.
Watch the first minute of the video (from 0:00 to 01:10). Listen carefully for the pronunciation of 'arriba', 'abajo', 'adentro' (a synonym for 'dentro'), and 'afuera' (a synonym for 'fuera'). Don't worry about the other words for now; we'll focus on these four.
As you heard in the video, we have:
arriba(ah-RREE-bah) - upabajo(ah-BAH-hoh) - downdentro/adentro(DEN-troh / ah-DEN-troh) - insidefuera/afuera(FWEH-rah / ah-FWEH-rah) - outside
For now, you can use dentro and adentro interchangeably, and the same goes for fuera and afuera.
2. Inside and Outside: Dentro y Fuera
These two words are perfect for cleanup time. Think about putting toys inside a box or taking toys outside to the garden.
The question you'll use most often is one you already know from asking "Where is...?":
¿Dónde está el coche?(Where is the car?)
And the answer structure is also familiar:
El coche está dentro de la caja.(The car is inside the box.)El perro está fuera de la casa.(The dog is outside the house.)
Notice the little word de that connects the location to the object. It works like "of" in English: "inside of the box."
This set of flashcards gives a great visual for these concepts.
The following article is written by a parent for parents, and it gives wonderful, practical examples of how to use these words as commands.
Las Preposiciones – Mamá Chilanga
The article 'Las Preposiciones' from Mamá Chilanga shows you exactly how to use these words to give instructions to your child.
Please read the short sections for 'Adentro' (Inside/in) and 'Afuera' (out/outside). Notice the practical command examples like 'Pon el libro adentro de tu mochila' (Put the book in your backpack) and 'Tu papá está afuera' (Your dad is outside).
3. Up and Down: Arriba y Abajo
These words are great for pointing things out. ¡Mira! El pájaro está arriba. (Look! The bird is up.) Or for telling your son where to find something, Tus zapatos están abajo. (Your shoes are down[stairs].)
Just like with dentro, when you want to specify "above something" or "under something", you add de.
La pintura está arriba del librero.(The painting is above the bookcase.)El juguete está abajo de la silla.(The toy is under the chair.)
For "under," you will often hear debajo de used interchangeably with abajo de. Both are correct.
Let's look at a clear set of examples.
Prepositions of Place in Spanish: List, Examples and Practice
The article 'Prepositions of Place in Spanish' from Spanish Learning Lab provides a very useful table with example sentences.
Scroll down to the table of examples. Focus on the sentences for 'DEBAJO DE' and 'ARRIBA DE'. You can click the play button next to them to hear the pronunciation. This will help you see how the sentences are formed.
Test your understanding!
Imagine you are talking to your son. How would you say the following?
- "The cat is under the table."
- "Put the toys inside the box." (Hint: Use
Pon...) - "Look, the airplane is up [in the sky]!" (Hint: Use
Mira...)
Show answer
El gato está abajo de la mesa.(or...debajo de la mesa.)Pon los juguetes dentro de la caja.¡Mira, el avión está arriba!
4. Let's Play a Game!
The best way to practice is by turning it into a game. The Mamá Chilanga article you read earlier suggests a simple and effective activity. You can do this with your son's favorite toys.
Gather a toy (like a teddy bear, el oso) and an empty box (la caja). Then, give him simple instructions using your new vocabulary.
Pon el oso dentro de la caja.(Put the bear inside the box.)Ahora, pon el oso fuera de la caja.(Now, put the bear outside the box.)Pon el oso arriba de la caja.(Put the bear on top of the box.)Y ahora, pon el oso abajo de la caja.(And now, put the bear under the box.)
This simple game directly applies what you've learned and makes tidying up a fun, interactive language lesson.
Conclusion
¡Excelente! You've just added four powerful and practical words to your Spanish vocabulary. You can now guide your son with more specific instructions, turning everyday moments into learning opportunities.
Key Takeaways:
- The four key location words are
dentro(inside),fuera(outside),arriba(up), andabajo(down). - To ask where something is, use
¿Dónde está...?. - To describe a location, use
[Objeto] está [preposición].. - To give a location-based command, use
Pon [objeto] [preposición].. - When referring to a specific object, add
de:dentro de la caja,abajo de la mesa.
In our next and final lesson of this module, we will take these skills outside! You will learn how to give simple walking instructions like dame la mano (give me your hand) and vamos a cruzar la calle (we're going to cross the street).
¡Hasta luego