Contractions - AL - DEL

Spanish Grammar Rules


Contractions in Spanish are very easy because you only need to learn two. Yes, there are only two contractions in Spanish. So, what are they?

One is A + EL = AL and the other is DE + EL = DEL

See the summary chart below:

Contracciones AL y DEL

The contraction AL

Whenever the preposition A is followed by the article EL, the two words are joined to form one new word (contraction) AL.

Incorrect: Voy a el supermercado.
Correct: Voy al supermercado.

More examples of sentences with AL

The contraction DEL

Whenever the preposition DE is followed by the article EL, the two words are joined to form one new word (or contraction) DEL.

Incorrect: Es el perro de el vecino.
Correct: Es el perro del vecino.

More examples of sentences with DEL

Important Exception:

We don't make a contraction of de + el when the EL is a part of a name (or city/country)

El vs Él

Be careful with the difference between the article EL (= the) and the pronoun ÉL (= he).
We do NOT contract the words A + ÉL or DE + ÉL

See our game about the difference between el vs él



Next Activities

Try our games to practice these contractions in Spanish:
AL vs A LA ---- Preposition + AL vs A LA
DEL vs DE LA ---- Preposition + DEL vs DE LA
AL vs DEL ---- Preposition + AL vs A LA vs DEL vs DE LA


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