Location Prepositions: en, sobre, debajo de, entre

Think of prepositions as the glue between an object and its location. In English, we have many specific words like "in," "on," "at," and "inside." Spanish likes to keep things a bit more streamlined. For example, en does the job of both "in" and "on" most of the time. It’s like a multi-tool for your sentences. These prepositions usually follow a verb—most commonly estar (to be)—because we are talking about where something is located right now. You name the thing, say it "is," then use the preposition to point to the spot. It’s a logical flow that makes sense even if you’re still waking up and haven't had your coffee yet.

1. 1Building a sentence with these prepositions is like building a sandwich. You just need the right layers in the right order. Follow these steps:
2. 2Start with the Subject: This is the thing you are locating (e.g., El gato).
3. 3Add the Verb: Usually a form of estar (e.g., está).
4. 4Insert the Preposition: Choose from en, sobre, debajo de, or entre.
5. 5Add the Location: The place where the subject is (e.g., la mesa).
6. 6Example: El gato (Subject) + está (Verb) + debajo de (Preposition) + la mesa (Location).
7. 7Note: For debajo de, never forget that de. It’s part of the package deal. For entre, you will usually have two locations or a plural noun (e.g., entre las sillas).

You will use these prepositions in almost every real-world scenario. Imagine you are in a job interview. You might say your resume is en la carpeta (in the folder). Or perhaps you are ordering food and want to know if the sauce is sobre la carne (on the meat).

• Use en for general locations: "in the box," "on the table," "at the station."
• Use sobre when you want to be specific about something being "on top of" or "above" something else. It feels a bit more precise than en.
• Use debajo de for anything underneath. If you drop your phone, it’s likely debajo del sofá.
• Use entre for things in the middle. "The bank is entre the pharmacy and the park."

Think of it like a grammar traffic light. En is the green light—it works for almost everything. Sobre and debajo de are the specific signals. Entre is the fork in the road.

Don't use en when you mean "inside" in a very deep or hidden way; sometimes dentro de is better, though en is usually fine for A1.

Also, avoid using sobre if you are talking about something being "inside" a container. You wouldn't say the milk is sobre el refrigerador unless it's literally sitting on top of the fridge getting warm (gross!).

Crucially, don't use entre if there is only one singular object without a plural context. You can't be "between a car." You must be "between the cars" or "between the car and the bus."

Yes, even native speakers mess this up sometimes, but usually, it's learners who fall into these traps. The biggest one? Forgetting the de in debajo de. Saying está debajo la mesa sounds like saying "it's under table"—it’s missing that vital link.

Another mistake is overusing sobre. English speakers love to translate "on" as sobre every single time. While not always wrong, it can sound a bit stiff. In Spanish, en is much more common for everyday things. If your book is on the table, está en la mesa is perfectly natural.

Lastly, watch out for entre. Remember that in Spanish, we don't say entre de. It’s just entre. Adding an extra de there is a common "grammar hiccup."

You might wonder about encima de versus sobre. They both mean "on top of." However, sobre is a bit more formal and can also mean "about" (like a book sobre history). Encima de is very common in spoken Spanish when something is physically on top of something else.

Then there is bajo versus debajo de. Bajo is often used for abstract things (like "under pressure" or bajo cero). For physical objects, like your shoes being under the bed, stick with debajo de. It’s the safer, more common choice for beginners. Think of debajo de as the physical location and bajo as the poetic or formal cousin.