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I Am Learning Spanish

Is there anyone else learning Spanish...or can speak Spanish...who would like to help when I don't understand something, and have tried google translate, but it's not always accurate?

If I say: "El perro está debajo de la camisa," why is it using "de?" Some sentences which say something is under something else don't have the "de," and some use "del." It's like saying: " the dog is under from the shirt," with the "de." The grammar is confusing.

I'm using RS, and it has no English translation.

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SW-User

Not "from" but more like "of" in this case... Funny, it's just one of those things... Saying "El perro está debajo la camisa" would just sound so wrong :P Sorry I have no real explanation... As you get more used w/ Spanish you'll just "know" if it sounds right or not... (the same grammar confusion occurs when people from other countries try to learn English... many things just don't make sense...) :-) It will always be "debajo de"... But "over" doesn't use "de": "El perro está sobre la mesa" (no "sobre de la mesa", that would be wrong...)

Carissimi · F

Thank you. Yes, the grammar is confusing, but I guess with time, it will start coming together.

Cierzo · M

Under is translated as 'debajo de'.
'Del' is the contracted form for de + el (singular masculine 'the')

Carissimi · F

Thanks for responding.

Are you saying that "debajo" always goes with "de?" I have seen a couple of examples without the "de," and that's what I can't understand...why some are with it, and some without.

Cierzo · M

If 'debajo' is followed by a noun, it is always followed by 'de'.

Carissimi · F

@Cierzo: Oh, okay, thanks for that. This course is just immersion without explanations. I'm just supposed to figure it out myself with logic, but sometimes it seems illogical.

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