Al vespre, acostumo a llegir una revista al sofà amb una manta.

In the evening, I tend to read a magazine on the sofa with a blanket.

Breakdown of Al vespre, acostumo a llegir una revista al sofà amb una manta.

• un: a
• a: in
• amb: with
• llegir: to read

Questions & Answers about Al vespre, acostumo a llegir una revista al sofà amb una manta.

What does al vespre mean, and why is it al instead of a el?

Al vespre means in the evening or in the late afternoon/evening.

Al is simply the contraction of a + el:

• a = to / at / in
• el = the
• a + el = al

So al vespre literally looks like at the evening, but in natural English we say in the evening.

This contraction is very common in Catalan:

• al sofà = a + el sofà
• al matí = in the morning

What exactly does acostumo a mean?

Acostumo a means I usually, I tend to, or I am in the habit of doing something.

It comes from the verb acostumar(-se), which is often used to talk about habits.

So:

• acostumo a llegir = I usually read / I tend to read

It is not describing what you are doing right now. It describes a regular habit.

Why is there an a before llegir in acostumo a llegir?