COM: Lesson - Contractions: al y del

Vacation homes located in Costa del SolContractions: al y del

Spanish contractions—two words combined into one—help make the language sound more fluid and natural.

Image note: this is a photograph of fancy vacation homes at a seaside resort in Costa del Sol. The name contains an example of one of the two contractions we will learn in this lesson: de + el Sol = del Sol.

Spanish Contractions: al y del

There are only two Spanish contractions—al and del—and using them is an integral part of speaking correct Spanish.

  • Al is a contraction of the two Spanish words a and el, and can mean many things, such as “at the” or “to the.”
    • a + el = al
  • Del is a contraction of the words de and el. It can mean “from the” and “of the,” among other things.
    • de + el = del

When to use al

Al is used whenever the preposition a is followed by the masculine singular definite article el (except for when el is part of a proper noun).

In the following sections, we’ll go over some of the most common scenarios when a and el are used together as al in a sentence.

  • To describe motion toward a place
    • Like the English preposition “to,”  use a to describe somebody moving towards a place. When that place happens to begin with the article el, you get al.
    • Ella va al restaurante todos los viernes.
    • She goes to the restaurant every Friday
  • To describe location
    • Use a like the English “at” to describe a location.
      • This will often happen in the context of prepositions, like al lado - next to
    • Las frutas están al lado de las verduras.
    • The fruits are next to the vegetables.

When to use del

Del is used whenever the preposition de is followed by el (again, except for when el is part of a proper noun). The following are some common examples of when de and el appear together in Spanish sentences.

  • To describe possession or ownership
    • In Spanish, there’s no equivalent to the English possessive 's/s'.
      • To express possession in Spanish write: object de owner.
    • La mochila del maestro
      • [de el] maestro -> del maestro
      • mochila = object; maestro = owner
    • The teacher's backpack
      • Alternative: The backpack of the teacher
  • To describe origin
    • When talking about where you or somebody else is from, use de. In some cases, this will require you to use the contraction del.
    • Soy del norte de España.
      • [de el] norte -> del norte
    • I’m from the north of Spain.

Video Lesson

A notebook and pen with ¡Toma apuntes! written on it.Watch this video lesson to review how to use contractios al and del. This is a muy importante lección (very important lesson) You may want to watch it twice! You will need tu cuaderno (your notebook), tu lápiz or bolígrafo (your pencil or your pen). Necesitas tomar apuntes (take notes) and complete practice activities.

Remember, email your teacher if you have any questions after you complete a lesson. Your instructor is always available to help you and clarify any additional questions you may have before you move forward with your studies.

Video credit: Maestro Kaplan

A stick note with La actividad de práctica written on it.

Practice Activities

Are you feeling more comfortable now with the contractions al and del? Take time to practice. All practice activities have unlimited attempts. Practice as many times as you need. When you complete practice activities, you are reviewing the lessons and preparing yourself to move forward in the course!

Complete the following practice activity. In this activity, you will be determining whether or not to use the contracted forms al and del. To do so, you will need to recognize the gender of the nouns being used, so you might want to have your vocabulary list handy if you need to check.

NOTE: You are required to use information from this course to complete all practice activities. Additionally, fill-in-the-blank activities can be very particular: if an item is marked incorrect, double check that it wasn't something as minor as an extra space or a capital letter in the wrong place!

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