Unit 2: Basics
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. |
