Contractions with a and de plus el

Level 2

A and de contract with el/els, but stay separate before an elided article.

How It Works

Use a before a city destination or location: vaig a Girona, soc a Girona. With casa in the home expression, no article is needed: torno a casa. With a definite masculine noun, contract a + el to al and a + els to als.

A + el gives al and a + els gives als. De + el gives del and de + els gives dels. The noun's gender and number determine which article is present: parlo als veïns, vinc de les botigues. Feminine la and les do not form these contractions.

Before an article that elides, keep the preposition separate: a l'escola, de l'hotel. Catalan place names with an ordinary article can contract, as in del Vendrell. Titles that preserve a capitalized initial article, such as d'El Temps, follow a different convention; do not generalize that exception to every proper name.

Examples (3)

  1. Escric als meus amics.

    I write to my friends.

  2. Tornem del mercat.

    We are coming back from the market.

  3. Surto de l'hotel a les vuit.

    I leave the hotel at eight.

How It Connects

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Contractions with a and de plus elLevel 2

Learn This First

Form al and als. Form del and dels. Let article elision block contraction.

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