Down usually translates as abajo, which follows nouns:
calle abajo down the street
río abajo down the river
The combination of down and verbs that imply movement (e.g., come/go/walk down) becomes bajar, although ir/venir (and other verbs that imply movement) 1 noun 1 abajo is a possible alternative:
Ellos bajaron la calle. They went down the street.
Ellos fueron/caminaron calle abajo. They went/walked down the street.
The second example offers the same problem as up. It doesn’t say whether the subject reached his or her destination or not. In such cases it is better to use hasta or a followed by el fondo de (the bottom of), la parte inferior de (the bottom of), and similar expressions:
Fui hasta el fondo de la calle. I went down (and reached the bottom of) the street.
Bajar doesn’t say how the action is done. This means that in translating to drive down the hill (bajar la colina), the verb bajar says nothing about driving. To address this prob- lem, you can add en coche (by car) or the gerund conduciendo (driving).
English speakers often use down with the noun street without considering whether the street has different levels or not. In such cases the best translation for down (the street) is por (la calle) since por is a more general word for location.
When bajar is followed by a direct object, it means to take/get/let down:
Bajé las sillas de mi habitación. I took the chairs down from my room.
El agua nos llegaba sobre/por encima de The water came up above/over our knees.
las rodillas.
Pusieron una bolsa de plástico por encima They put a plastic bag over the body.
del cuerpo.
La temperatura es de diez grados sobre The temperature is ten degrees above
cero. zero.
El pueblo está a mil metros sobre el The town is at one thousand meters
nivel del mar. above sea level.
El helicóptero está volando sobre/por The helicopter is flying over/above the
encima de la ciudad. town.
The preposition por in por encima de can be left out in the examples above. Its presence in a prepositional construction is often redundant:
La lámpara está sobre/encima de The lamp is over/above our heads.
nuestras cabezas.
Había extrañas nubes sobre/encima de There were strange clouds over/above
la ciudad. the city.
In English, over is related to the idea of covering and above is related to level on a ver- tical scale. The Spanish preposition sobre and the construction (por) encima de can relate to both, but the speaker usually has the idea of covering in mind. If you want to express something like The cloud is above the house but not over it, don’t use either one. In this case it is much better to refer to height with the verb estar (La nube está más alta que la casa, pero no está encima).
In the preceding examples, sobre and (por) encima de don’t imply physical contact, but they can do so in other contexts. Encima de then translates as on, on top of, and at the top of:
Los platos están sobre/encima de la mesa. The plates are on the table.
Las mantas están sobre/encima del The blankets are on top of the wardrobe.
armario.
In these sentences, encima de can be replaced by en lo alto de:
Los he puesto en lo alto del armario I have put them on top of the wardrobe.
(o: encima del armario/sobre el armario).
When no place of reference is mentioned, the preposition de is left out (adverbial function):
Los puse encima. I put them on top (of it).
Over and across translate as al otro lado de or en la otra parte de when they mean at the other side of:
Hay un pueblo al otro lado de las colinas. There is a town over the hills.
All over translates as por todo:
por todo el mundo all over the world
The preposition over can be used in English with meals/food/drink. In this case its translation is durante or en:
Tuvimos una agradable charla durante/ We had a nice chat over lunch.
en el almuerzo.
Over is translated as en 1 infinitive in sentences of the type He doesn’t take long over lunch: Él no tarda mucho en almorzar. In this construction the verb take is translated using tardar; the noun lunch becomes a verb (almorzar).
Over can mean more than or higher than. Its translation is más de (for figures) or (por) encima de (for situation/location):
Hay más de 5.000 personas aquí. There are over 5,000 people here.
Nos llegaba por encima de las rodillas. It came up over our knees.
You can also use más arriba de in the second example.
Arriba (adverb) is used to refer to location on a higher floor or to refer to a place situ- ated somewhere else at a higher level. Arriba isn’t used with de and nouns or pronouns, except in the construction más arriba de:
Ellos viven encima de nosotros. They live above us. (in the same building, (O: Ellos viven arriba.) for example)
Ellos están arriba can mean They are upstairs, or it can mean that they are in a known place that is situated at a higher level with regard to the speaker. The context and the situa- tion will make it clear.
Both over and above can mean higher in rank. In this case, por encima de is used:
Ella está por encima de él. She is over him.
To say over as in a bridge over a river, the prepositions sobre and en are used:
un puente sobre el Támesis a bridge over the Thames
Above the bridge is translated by corriente arriba (upstream) or río arriba (up the river).
Below translates as bajo when it refers to level and figures connected to level:
La temperatura ahora es de diez grados The temperature now is ten degrees below
bajo cero. zero.
Partes de Holanda están bajo el nivel Parts of Holland are below sea level.
del mar.
In other contexts, speakers prefer (por) debajo de for below, although bajo is equally cor- rect in most cases, except with pronouns (e.g., bajo él isn’t good Spanish). The preposition por can usually be left out:
Ellos viven debajo de nosotros. They live below us.
In the above example, we might live, for instance, on the third floor and they live on the second. If they lived farther down the street on a lower level (a steep street), Spanish speak- ers would never use por debajo de or bajo. In such a case they would say más abajo de.
Ellos viven debajo de nosotros can also be Ellos viven abajo, without mentioning nosotros.
Up and down
Up translates as en lo alto de/en la parte superior de/en la parte de arriba de, and so on when position/location is meant:
Estaban en lo alto de la colina. They were up the hill.
Down corresponds to en lo hondo de/en (or: al) fondo de/en la parte de abajo de/en la parte inferior de, and so on when it indicates position/location:
Están al fondo de la colina. They are down the hill.
Under
Under usually translates as debajo (de):
El gato está debajo de la mesa. The cat is under the table.
Ella puso la carta debajo de la almohada. She put the letter under the pillow.
Bajo can also be used in these examples.
Very often por debajo de is an alternative, especially when verbs indicating move- ment are used:
Ellos estaban nadando por debajo del They were swimming underwater.
agua (o: ... bajo el agua).
When below and under are used to refer to seniority, Spanish speakers usually prefer por debajo de. The noun responsabilidad (responsibility) is used with bajo:
Ellos están por debajo de mí. They are under me.
Lo haré bajo mi responsabilidad. I’ll do it and take the responsibility.
Beneath usually translates as (por) debajo de, to which very often possessive adjective 1 nivel/clase (or similar noun) is added:
Ella se casó por debajo de su nivel/clase. She married beneath her station/class.
EJERCICIO
11·1
Fill in the blanks with a suitable preposition or prepositional expression. If no preposition is needed, mark the blank with a hyphen. For many items, there is more than one possible answer.
1. La multitud se dirigía la comisaría de policía.
2. Los invitados llegaron muy temprano la recepción.
3. Me fui afuera sin ponerme el abrigo.
4. Me lastimé el brazo al saltar el seto del jardín.
5. Hace muchísimo frío. La temperatura es de doce grados cero.
6. El puente que van a construir ese río mide más de cien metros de longitud.
7. Los pobres tuvieron que caminar el desierto sin agua ni comida.
8. Los tuve que poner del aparador para que los niños no los alcanzaran.
9. Relacionarme con gente así está mi clase, y no pienso rebajarme.
10. He viajado todo el mundo.
EJERCICIO
11·2
Find and correct any mistakes.
1. Siempre voy allí por coche.
2. La chica que vive encima de mi piso es azafata.
3. Paco está bajo ella en la oficina. Ella es su jefa.
4. Podremos discutir las condiciones del contrato encima del almuerzo.
5. Estuve dando un paseo por el parque.
6. Ven para acá y échame una mano con esto.
7. Atravesamos a través de un boquecillo que hay en las afueras.
8. El dormitorio de Elena está arriba del mío.
9. La chica estuvo montando en bici toda la mañana.
10. Cruzaron el Atlántico en balsa.
EJERCICIO
11·3
Underline the correct choice. In some cases both answers are possible.
1. La temperatura es de veinte grados bajo/debajo de cero.
2. Los puse debajo de/bajo la mesa que hay en el comedor.
3. Los dulces estaban en lo alto del/encima del aparador de la cocina.
4. Hay una agencia de viajes al/el otro lado de esa calle.
5. Llegaron en/a Colombia después de un pésimo viaje.
6. Los enanitos caminaron al/hacia el bosque cantando y silbando.
7. Pasa a/en mi despacho, por favor.
8. Se marcharon a/para casa muy tarde.
9. Estaban todos dentro de/adentro la sala de prensa.
10. Mi padre y mi novio discutieron en/durante la cena.