Walk up to, step away from, walk past: a motion verb plus its preposition
English packs direction into the verb: walk up, walk away, walk past. Spanish keeps the verb and adds a preposition it cannot do without, so learn the pair whole. For example: “Se acercó a la ventana y luego se alejó sin decir nada” — He walked up to the window and then moved away without saying a word. A rule from the Spanish course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
English packs direction into the verb: walk up, walk away, walk past. Spanish keeps the verb and adds a preposition it cannot do without, so learn the pair whole.
Towards takes a: acercarse a la puerta, subir a la azotea, llegar a casa. Away takes de: alejarse de la costa, salir de casa. Through or past takes por: pasar por delante de tu casa, mirar por la ventana. Hacia points in a direction without promising arrival; hasta goes all the way.
The second habit-breaker is se. Mover is to move a thing, moverse to move yourself. Acercar la silla is to pull the chair closer, acercarse to walk up. Drop the se and you have said you are moving something else.
Ir and venir are stricter than English. Venir is motion towards the speaker, ir away from them, so 'I'm coming' is voy.
Table
| verb | preposition | example | in English |
|---|---|---|---|
| acercarse | a | acercarse a la puerta | walk up to the door |
| alejarse | de | alejarse del ruido | move away from the noise |
| pasar | por | pasar por el parque | go through the park |
| ir | hacia | ir hacia el norte | head north |
| llegar | hasta | llegar hasta el final | get all the way to the end |
| salir | de | salir de casa | leave the house |
| subir | a | subir al tejado | climb onto the roof |
| bajarse | de | bajarse del tren | get off the train |
By example
- Se acercó a la ventana y luego se alejó sin decir nadaHe walked up to the window and then moved away without saying a word
- Pasamos por delante del museo y seguimos hacia el puertoWe walked past the museum and carried on toward the port
- Muévela un poco a la derecha y no te muevas túMove it a bit to the right, and do not you move
How the rule settles in your head
A rule is not memorized from an explanation. It is memorized from an attempt to use it and a mistake — that is why the app delivers it mixed in with words, not as a separate lesson: it resurfaces exactly where you forgot it.
Frequently asked
Walk up to, step away from, walk past: how does it work in Spanish?
English packs direction into the verb: walk up, walk away, walk past. Spanish keeps the verb and adds a preposition it cannot do without, so learn the pair whole.
What does it look like in an example sentence Spanish?
“Se acercó a la ventana y luego se alejó sin decir nada” — He walked up to the window and then moved away without saying a word. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.