De (2) | Using desde/de/hasta/a for from/to in Spanish

Expressing distance

Ese tren va desde Madrid hasta Barcelona. That train goes from Madrid to Barcelona. De tu casa a mi casa hay 5 minutos.From your house to my house takes 5 minutes. Está pintando la pared de arriba a abajo.She is painting the wall from top to bottom. Las cortinas van desde esta esquina hasta esa esquina.The curtains go from this corner to that corner.

Although these prepositions tend to go together, you can also use them on their own with the same meaning, from and to. For example:

Estoy observando a los niños en el jardín desde mi ventana.I am watching the kids in the garden from my window. El espejo llega hasta el techo.The mirror reaches the ceiling.

Expressing time

La tienda está cerrada de 2 a 4 de la tarde.The shop is closed from 2 till 4 in the afternoon. Viví en Salamanca desde 2007 hasta 2010.I lived in Salamanca from 2007 till 2010. De junio a agosto no ha llovido.It hasn't rained from June till August. No he comido nada desde esta mañana hasta ahora.I haven't eaten anything from this morning until now.

Note: Although desde/hasta and de/a, are the usual and preferred sets of prepositions, they are sometimes combined, for example:

de las diez hasta las doce desde Madrid a Barcelona These combinations are not the preferred ones but they are also accepted.

"From...to" in Spanish Prepositions desde/de and hasta/a are used in Spanish to express from/to or from/until. They can be used to talk about distance or time. The usual combination is:

desde... hasta...(from... to.../ from...until) de...a... (from...to.../ from...until)