09 Relation

Primitive 4. How entities connect in space, time, and logic. Dial [régimen].

1Why prepositions resist rules§

Prepositions are the least systematic area of any language, and honesty requires saying so up front: a meaningful fraction of preposition use is lexically fixed and must be learned verb-by-verb (§4). ⊘ is going to appear more in this document than in any other.

But two things are systematic and they carry most of the load:

1. por vs para — one distinction, cleanly derivable (§2)
2. verb government — arbitrary per verb, but a finite, learnable list of about sixty (§4)

Everything else is a manageable inventory.

2por vs para — one distinction★★★ frequency 3 of 3, daily§

Both translate as "for," which is why English speakers struggle. But they're not competing translations of one concept; they're two different concepts that English happens to merge.

PARA points forward* — to a destination, purpose, recipient, or deadline. The arrow leaves and goes somewhere. POR points backward or through* — to a cause, a motive, an exchange, a route, or a span. The arrow comes from something or passes through it.

2.1para — forward-looking★★★ frequency 3 of 3, daily§

2.2por — backward-looking or through★★★ frequency 3 of 3, daily§

2.3The minimal pairs that make it click★★★ frequency 3 of 3, daily§

2.4Fixed expressions★★ frequency 2 of 3, secondary§

With por: por favor, por suerte, por ejemplo, por eso, por supuesto, por lo menos, por ahora, por fin, por las dudas ★★★ frequency 3 of 3, daily (just in case, very Argentine), por acá, por otro lado, por lo tanto, por si acaso

With para: para siempre, para nada ★★★ frequency 3 of 3, daily (not at all), para colmo (to top it off), para variar

3The rest of the inventory★★ frequency 2 of 3, secondary§

a★★★ frequency 3 of 3, daily§

de★★★ frequency 3 of 3, daily§

Possession (la casa *de Juan), origin (soy de Virginia), material (mesa de madera), topic (hablamos de política), partitive (un vaso de agua), superlative complement (el mejor de todos), and the E→Q link that exposes what English hides by stacking (torta de chocolate, carta de vinos, ojo de* bife).

en★★★ frequency 3 of 3, daily§

Location (en Palermo), time period (en 2026, en marzo), transport (en auto, en colectivo, en subte), state (en serio ★★★ frequency 3 of 3, daily).

con★★ frequency 2 of 3, secondary§

Accompaniment (con vos — 03 §6), instrument (con un cuchillo), manner (con cuidado). ⚠ con + infinitive = concessive: Con estudiar no alcanza (studying isn't enough).

The rest★ frequency 1 of 3, rare§

4Verb government — the list you must own★★★ frequency 3 of 3, daily§

Which preposition a verb demands is lexical ⊘. This is the single largest arbitrary-memorization burden in Spanish grammar, and there's no way around it — but the list is finite and this is most of it.

4.1Verbs + de§

acordarse *de (remember) · olvidarse *de (forget) · darse cuenta *de (realize) · depender *de · quejarse *de (complain) · burlarse *de (mock) · enamorarse *de · reírse *de · tratarse *de (be a matter of) · encargarse *de (take charge of) · ocuparse *de · cansarse *de · alegrarse *de · arrepentirse *de · dudar *de · hablar *de · pensar *de (have an opinion of) · terminar *de · dejar *de · acabar *de

4.2Verbs + en§

pensar *en (think about) ★★★ frequency 3 of 3, daily · creer *en · confiar *en · insistir *en · fijarse *en (notice) · meterse *en · convertirse *en · participar *en · tardar *en · quedar *en (agree to) ★★ frequency 2 of 3, secondary · consistir *en***

4.3Verbs + a§

empezar *a · comenzar *a · aprender *a · ayudar *a · enseñar *a · obligar *a · invitar *a · negarse *a (refuse) · atreverse *a (dare) · decidirse *a · acostumbrarse *a (get used to) · renunciar *a · volver *a (do again) ★★★ frequency 3 of 3, daily · llegar *a · ponerse *a · jugar *a ⚠ (jugar al fútbol, not *jugar fútbol (ungrammatical)) · asistir *a (attend) · parecerse *a

4.4Verbs + con§

contar *con (count on) ★★ frequency 2 of 3, secondary · soñar *con (dream of) · casarse *con · encontrarse *con (run into) · dar *con (find) · cumplir *con · conformarse *con***

4.5Verbs + por§

preocuparse *por · interesarse *por · luchar *por · disculparse *por · optar *por · preguntar *por ⚠ (ask about someone: preguntó por vos)

4.6The verbs that take NO preposition — where English has one★★★ frequency 3 of 3, daily§

This is the highest-value sub-list in the document, because English speakers insert prepositions that don't belong:

5Coordinating conjunctions★★★ frequency 3 of 3, daily§

6pero vs sino★★ frequency 2 of 3, secondary§

A distinction English lacks entirely, and one of the cleaner rules here:

pero = but (adds contrasting information) sino = but rather (corrects a preceding negative)

Your bankthe phrase bank line uses this: No solo ejecuta tareas, *sino que* te ayuda a definir…

7Subordinating conjunctions★★ frequency 2 of 3, secondary§

Grouped by what they do and which mood they take (07 §3):

• No fui *porque* llovía. — standard, mid-sentence
• *Como llovía, no fui. — sentence-initial cause ★★★ frequency 3 of 3, daily (porque* can't start a sentence this way)
• Es *que* llovía. — "it's just that…" ★★★ frequency 3 of 3, daily very common excuse frame

8Discourse connectors — the Argentine set★★★ frequency 3 of 3, daily§

Conjunctions join clauses; connectors join turns and thoughts. These are what make speech sound native, and they're systematically absent from textbooks. Full pragmatic treatment in 12 §6; here as the RELATION inventory.

9Traps§

10Cross-references§

• DOM — the a that marks objects, not relations11 §3
• Which mood each conjunction takes07 §3
• E→Q linking with de01 §4Vol 00 §10
• Connectors as social pragmatics12 §6
• Prepositions + infinitive vs + subjunctive10 §2