Spanish has exactly two obligatory contractions in the entire language: a + el → al and de + el → del. They are not optional, not stylistic, and not a matter of register — they are part of standard orthography. A el cine and de el coche are simply wrong in writing, the same way isn't is the only correct written form of is not in some contexts (with the caveat that English actually allows is not; Spanish does not allow a el at all in this configuration).
This page covers the two contractions, the exceptions where they do not apply (proper names containing El, the stressed pronoun él), the asymmetry between el and the other three definite article forms (which never contract), and the smaller traps around contraction with the indefinite article (none — un does not contract).
The two contractions
The rule is mechanical and exceptionless within its scope:
| Preposition + article | Contracted form |
|---|---|
| a + el | al |
| de + el | del |
Voy al supermercado a comprar algo para la cena.
I'm going to the supermarket to pick up something for dinner.
Acabo de volver del trabajo, déjame respirar cinco minutos.
I've just got back from work, give me five minutes to breathe.
Both contractions are mandatory in writing and reflect normal pronunciation — Spanish speakers naturally elide a el and de el in speech, and the spelling system catches up by writing it as a single word.
When the contraction does NOT happen
The rule says a + el → al. The trick is that el has to be the definite article for the rule to fire. There are two situations where the surface looks the same but el is actually something else, and the contraction does not apply.
Proper names containing El
When El is part of a proper name — a newspaper, a country, a film, a book title — it stays uncontracted, because the El belongs to the name rather than functioning as a separate article:
Esto lo leí en un artículo de El País el otro día.
I read this in an article in El País the other day. — no contraction: El País is the name of the newspaper.
La capital de El Salvador es San Salvador.
The capital of El Salvador is San Salvador. — El Salvador is the country's full name; no contraction.
Acabo de ver una crítica muy buena de El laberinto del fauno.
I've just read a very good review of Pan's Labyrinth. — film title preserved intact.
Note the inner contraction in the film title — del fauno — which does contract because del there is just de + el with fauno as a common noun. The rule applies inside the title even when the title as a whole is preserved.
In practice, this exception is most common with:
- Newspapers and magazines: El País, El Mundo, El Confidencial.
- Countries with El/La in the official name: El Salvador, La Habana, El Cairo (and traditionally El Perú, El Japón, though those are increasingly used without the article today).
- Films, novels, songs whose titles begin with El.
- A handful of place names: El Escorial, El Ferrol, El Puerto de Santa María.
The stressed pronoun él — "he, him"
This is the trap most English speakers miss. The article el (no accent) and the pronoun él (with accent) are spelled almost identically but are different words. The pronoun él — meaning "he" or "him" — is stressed and never contracts:
Le he dado el regalo a él, no a su hermano.
I've given the present to him, not to his brother. — a él, never *al, because él is the pronoun.
Esta carta es de él, no es mía.
This letter is from him, it's not mine. — de él, never *del.
A él le encanta el cine, a ella le aburre.
He loves the cinema, she finds it boring. — a él stays as two words.
The written accent is your reliable visual cue: él (pronoun) keeps the accent and stays uncontracted; el (article) has no accent and triggers the contraction. In speech, you can usually tell because the pronoun is stressed and the article is not — a él has a clear stress on él, while al glides through.
The other article forms never contract
It is tempting, especially for learners who have just met al and del, to over-apply the rule to other article forms. Do not. A and de contract only with the masculine singular el — never with la, los, las:
| Preposition + article | Result |
|---|---|
| a + el | al (contracts) |
| a + la | a la (no contraction) |
| a + los | a los (no contraction) |
| a + las | a las (no contraction) |
| de + el | del (contracts) |
| de + la | de la (no contraction) |
| de + los | de los (no contraction) |
| de + las | de las (no contraction) |
Vamos a la playa los domingos por la mañana.
We go to the beach on Sunday mornings. — a la, two words.
Nos despedimos de los amigos antes de las once.
We said goodbye to our friends before eleven. — de los and de las stay separate.
Llamé a las chicas para invitarlas al cumpleaños.
I called the girls to invite them to the birthday party. — a las stays separate; al cumpleaños contracts.
This asymmetry exists because a + el and de + el are the only combinations where the vowel collision (a-e or e-e) gets resolved by contraction. The other forms (a la, a los) keep clear vowel boundaries — a la has a then l then a, not two adjacent vowels — so there is no phonological reason to glue them.
Al and del with the el agua nouns
There is one small but elegant interaction to mention. The el agua rule says feminine singular nouns starting with stressed /a/ take el instead of la. Because these nouns take el, they also trigger the contractions:
Echa la pasta al agua cuando esté hirviendo.
Put the pasta in the water once it's boiling. — al agua, even though agua is feminine.
Llegamos al aula a las nueve en punto.
We got to the classroom at nine on the dot.
El instinto del águila es realmente impresionante.
The eagle's instinct is really impressive.
The logic is consistent: the contraction depends on whether the article form is el, regardless of the grammatical gender of the noun behind it. El agua contracts with a and de; la fría agua (where la reappears because of the intervening adjective) does not.
Un and the indefinite article — no contraction
For symmetry, learners sometimes ask whether a + un or de + un contracts. It does not. The indefinite article un never contracts with anything:
Esta tarde voy a un concierto en la Sala Apolo.
This afternoon I'm going to a concert at Sala Apolo. — a un, two words.
Es la canción de un grupo de Madrid que me encanta.
It's a song by a band from Madrid that I love. — de un, two words.
Only the definite masculine singular article el contracts. Everything else — un, una, unos, unas, la, los, las — stays as a separate word after a and de.
Other prepositions — no contraction
The contraction rule applies only to a and de. Other prepositions, even when followed by el, stay as two words:
El gato está debajo de la mesa, pero el perro está sobre el sofá.
The cat is under the table, but the dog is on the sofa. — sobre el, never *sobrel.
Pasamos por el centro de camino a la oficina.
We came through the centre on the way to the office. — por el, no contraction.
He venido con el coche, así que te puedo acercar a casa.
I came with the car, so I can drop you off. — con el stays as two words, never *conel.
A common learner intuition is "if a and de contract, surely en, por, con, sobre, para must too." They do not. Spanish reserves contraction for the two prepositions where it was historically established; the rest stay separate by convention.
Speech vs writing
In casual fast speech you may hear what sounds like contractions with other prepositions — en'l coche, par'l cine — but these are never written. Standard orthography respects only al and del. Get into the habit of leaving the others alone.
The reverse error — writing a el cine or de el trabajo — is one of the most reliable markers of a non-native or careless writer. Spanish keyboards do not insert the contraction automatically; you have to remember to write al and del yourself.
A nuance: contracted preposition + relative clause
When al or del introduces a relative clause, the contraction still applies if the antecedent is masculine singular and definite:
Es el restaurante del que te hablé el otro día.
It's the restaurant I told you about the other day. — del que, contracted.
Me acuerdo perfectamente del momento en que nos conocimos.
I remember perfectly the moment when we met.
Esta es la persona a la que me refiero.
This is the person I'm referring to. — a la que (feminine), no contraction.
Common Mistakes
❌ Voy a el cine esta noche.
A + el must contract — this is mandatory orthography, not a style choice.
✅ Voy al cine esta noche.
Always al, never a el. Same with de el → del: vengo del trabajo.
❌ Le di el libro al él, no a ella.
The stressed pronoun él (with accent) never contracts — al here is impossible because él is not the article.
✅ Le di el libro a él, no a ella.
A él stays as two words; the accent on él tells you it's the pronoun, not the article.
❌ Acabo de leer un artículo del País.
El País is a proper name — the El belongs to the name and never contracts.
✅ Acabo de leer un artículo de El País.
Proper names that include El (newspapers, countries, films) keep the El intact: de El País, de El Salvador, de El laberinto del fauno.
❌ Vamos al la playa.
Double determiner — al already contains el; you cannot add la on top.
✅ Vamos a la playa.
A la stays as two words because la does not trigger the contraction. Only el contracts with a and de.
❌ He vuelto del Madrid.
Personal proper names and most country names take no article in Spanish, so de + Madrid does not contract — there is no article to contract.
✅ He vuelto de Madrid. / He vuelto del centro.
No article, no contraction. Compare with el centro, a common noun, which does contract: del centro.
❌ Tengo miedo a el examen de mañana.
Same as the first mistake — a + el must contract.
✅ Tengo miedo al examen de mañana.
Always al before a masculine singular noun with the definite article. Note: tener miedo a means 'to be afraid of.'
Key Takeaways
- Spanish has exactly two contractions in the language: a + el → al and de + el → del. They are mandatory in writing.
- Both contractions apply only to the masculine singular definite article el. The forms la, los, las never contract with anything.
- The stressed pronoun él (with accent, meaning "he/him") looks like el but is a different word and does not contract: a él, de él.
- Proper names containing El (newspapers, countries, films) keep El intact: de El País, de El Salvador, a El Cairo.
- The indefinite article un/una/unos/unas never contracts.
- Only a and de contract with el. Other prepositions (en, por, con, sobre, para) stay as two words: en el coche, por el centro, con el niño.
- The el agua nouns also trigger the contraction (al agua, del águila) because they take the form el in the singular.
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