del / dela / nel / nela
Contractions with Pronouns
De and en join the pronouns el, ela, eles, elas into one word, as in É amigo dela (he is her friend) and Penso nel (I think about him).
How It Works
Pronouns with de: del, dela, deles, delas (of him, of her, of them).
Pronouns with en: nel, nela, neles, nelas (in or on him, her, them).
Neuter words with de: disto, diso, daquilo.
Neuter words with en: nisto, niso, naquilo.
Where you meet them: after verbs and phrases that take de or en, such as falar de (talk about), acordarse de (remember), pensar en (think about) and confiar en (trust): Pensa niso (Think about it), Non me acordo del (I do not remember him).
Del is not the Spanish del: in Galician, del means "of him". The contraction with the article is do: o coche do veciño (the neighbour's car), but o coche del (his car).
Showing the owner: del, dela, deles, delas after a noun make the owner clear when seu or súa could be ambiguous. See a casa dela.
Other pronouns stay separate: de min, de ti, en nós, de vós do not contract, and neither do other prepositions: con el, para ela, sen eles. For min and ti, see pronouns after prepositions.
Advanced note: there is no contraction when de does not govern the pronoun but introduces a clause with an infinitive: De eles chegaren en tempo, imos xuntos (If they arrive in time, we will go together).
Examples (6)
- É amigo dela.
He is her friend.
Word by Word: Is friend of-her.
de + ela = dela
- Penso moito nel.
I think about him a lot.
Word by Word: Think-I much in-him.
Pensar takes en: en + el = nel.
- Non sei nada diso.
I don't know anything about that.
Word by Word: Not know-I nothing of-that.
de + iso = diso
- Pensa niso con calma.
Think about it calmly.
Word by Word: Think in-that with calm.
en + iso = niso
- Que opinas disto?
What do you think of this?
Word by Word: What think-you of-this?
de + isto = disto
- Non me acordo delas.
I don't remember them.
Word by Word: Not myself remember-I of-them.
Acordarse takes de: de + elas = delas.
Common Mistakes
Writing de and the pronoun as two words.
É amigo de ela.É amigo dela.De always joins el, ela, eles and elas: de + ela = dela.
Using del as the Spanish article contraction.
Esta é a casa del médico.Esta é a casa do médico.In Galician, del means "of him". De + the article o is do.
Leaving en separate before iso.
Non penso en iso.Non penso niso.En joins the neuter demonstratives too: en + iso = niso.
How It Connects
Learn This First
De and en contract with third-person pronouns and neuter demonstratives.
Related Patterns
- eu / ti / el / ela / nós / vós / eles / elasSubject Pronouns
The subject pronouns el, ela, eles and elas are the forms that contract.
Level 1 - deste / neste / daquelContractions with Demonstratives
The same contraction with este, ese and aquel.
Level 2 - a casa delaClarifying Seu with Del and Dela
Uses dela and del after a noun to show whose it is.
Level 3 - de + o = doContractions of De with the Article
Do, not del, is the contraction of de with the article.
Level 1
Learn Next
Patterns that build on this one.
Words in This Pattern
Practice del / dela / nel / nela in Bubblegum
Poppy, your AI tutor, writes Galician lessons at your level. Tap any grammar point in a lesson to see its full explanation.
