Are you wondering how to say to and from in Spanish? Whether you’re giving directions, sending a gift or talking about time, learning how to say to and from in Spanish correctly is key to communicating well. In this post, we’ll explain how to say to and from in Spanish with clear rules, real examples and audio 🎧
Let’s dive in!
In Spanish, the word to can be translated in different ways depending on the context:
👉 For movement or direction:
Use 'a' or 'hasta'.
Voy a la playa. (I’m going to the beach.)
Caminamos hasta el parque. (We walk to the park.)
Use 'a'.
Le di el regalo a María. (I gave the gift to María.)
Use 'hasta'.
Estaré aquí hasta las cinco. (I’ll be here until five.)
The equivalent of 'from' also depends on context:
Use 'de' or 'desde'.
Vengo de España. (I come from Spain.)
Caminamos desde la estación. (We walk from the station.)
Use 'de'.
Un regalo de Ana. (A gift from Ana.)
La carta es de tu hermano. (The letter is from your brother.)
In Spanish, we use de – a and desde – hasta to express a starting point and an end point. Both structures mean from... to... in English, and can be used with places or time.
But there are two key differences:
➡️ de – a is more informal and shorter. It’s very common in speech.
➡️ desde – hasta is more formal and complete. It’s typical in writing, explanations, or when you want to be extra clear.
Example:
Trabajo de 9 a 5. → Sounds quick, natural.
Trabajo desde las 9 hasta las 5. → Sounds more structured and precise.
Both sentences mean the same.
Here’s where things really change:
With de – a, you can use single words without articles:
De casa a clase (from home to class)
De lunes a viernes (from Monday to Friday)
De Madrid a Sevilla (from Madrid to Seville)
With desde – hasta, you usually need fuller phrases, often with articles:
Desde la casa hasta la clase (from the house until the class)
Desde el lunes hasta el viernes (from Monday until Friday)
Desde Madrid hasta Sevilla (from Madrid until Seville)
Also, in desde – hasta, both parts must appear. You can’t just say hasta el viernes if you started with desde. But with de – a, sometimes you can skip de if the context is clear.
Use de – a if you're speaking naturally and casually.
Use desde – hasta if you're writing, being precise or want to sound a bit more formal.
Both are correct, but desde – hasta is more grammatically complete.
When talking about giving or receiving gifts in Spanish, the structure is usually:
Un regalo de (from) alguien para (to/for) alguien.
💬 Examples:
Un regalo de mamá para ti. (A gift from mum to you.)
Una postal de Londres para mis amigos. (A postcard from London to my friends.)
Watch our video! 👀
Complete each sentence by selecting the right preposition pair. Only one option is correct.
Have you ever been confused by Spanish prepositions like 'de', 'a', 'desde' or 'hasta'?
Tell us in the comments how you’ve used them or where you’ve seen them.
Let’s learn together 👇