al
/al/
The Spanish phrase al translates to 'to the' or 'at the'.
Which one should you use?
Use al when the following noun is masculine and singular, but do not use it if the following noun is feminine (use a la instead).
How does it change in a sentence?
The word al is a mandatory contraction of the preposition a and the masculine singular article el. Unlike the masculine form al, the feminine form a la does not contract. Unlike the masculine singular form al, the masculine plural form a los does not contract.
How do you pronounce it?
/al/
Did you know?
- While al is a contraction of 'to the', it can also function as a conjunction meaning 'upon' or 'when'. For example, al llegar means 'upon arriving' or 'when arriving'.
- The word al is a linguistic sibling to the Italian al and French au, as all three Romance languages developed a mandatory contraction for 'to the' from Latin.
- While al is a mandatory contraction in standard speech, you will sometimes see a el in old texts or formal documents when 'el' is part of a proper name, such as a el Cairo.
Examples in context
- El símbolo del aluminio es Al.The chemical symbol for aluminum is Al.This sentence shows the use of al as a chemical symbol.Tatoeba #3696879 by hayastan, translation #7822425 by 100nosewiggles
- ¿El Sr. Al-Obaid se encuentra aquí?Is Mr. Al-Obaid here?This sentence shows al as part of a proper name.Tatoeba #4426521 by Serafin, translation #4425895 by HedefTuran
- Vamos a preguntarle a Alí a ver qué opina.Let's ask Alí what he thinks.This sentence shows al as part of the name Alí.Tatoeba #6152203 by Shishir, translation #9193503 by DJ_Saidez
- 37 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Elena and Alejandro are deciding on their plans for the afternoon.
- Elena¿Quieres ir al restaurante nuevo?Do you want to go to the new restaurant?
- AlejandroSí, suena muy bien, Elena.Yes, that sounds very good, Elena.
- ElenaPerfecto, entonces vamos al centro.Perfect, then let's go to the center.
- AlejandroDe acuerdo, te veo allí.Agreed, I'll see you there.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry al, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
