preposició

Preposició (Catalan for preposition) is a word class that marks a relationship between a noun or pronoun and another element in a sentence. It begins a prepositional phrase that adds information about place, time, direction, manner, cause, or possession. Preposicions are closed-class words and do not change for gender or number.

In Catalan grammar, prepositions precede their complement and govern the definite article when the noun is definite. Some prepositions contract with the article, forming al (a + el) and del (de + el). Common prepositions include a, en, de, amb, des de, fins a, sobre, davant de, dins de, al costat de, among others.

Prepositional phrases can express spatial relations (Va anar a Barcelona; El llibre és a la taula), temporal relations (Vam sortir de casa a les vuit) and other relations (Va parlar amb el professor; La casa és al costat de la biblioteca; El tren ve des de Madrid). They can also indicate origin, destination or possession (des de, de; a, amb).

Notes: prepositions select their complement; many prepositional phrases can be moved within a sentence for emphasis. They contrast with adverbs, which modify verbs without introducing a noun phrase. In writing, contractions with articles are common (al, del). Preposició is a fundamental element in Catalan syntax, shaping how nouns relate to other sentence parts and contributing to clarity of meaning.