2.6 Contractions

There are two contractions that must happen in Spanish. Whenever a + el appear (unless the latter is part of a proper name, e.g., El Salvador), they contract to form al. When de + el appear, they contract to form del. Note in the last example that the contraction del may also indicate possession.

• Estoy al punto de volverme loco.
• I’m at the point of going crazy.
• Estamos a diez minutos del hotel.
• We are ten minutes from the hotel.
• Los periódicos son del vendedor.
• The newspapers are the vendor’s.