Acudí al local electoral.

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Breakdown of Acudí al local electoral.

• el local electoral: the polling place
• acudir: to go (when called or needed)

Questions & Answers about Acudí al local electoral.

What does acudí mean here?

Acudí is the first-person singular preterite of acudir:

• acudo = I attend / I go to
• acudí = I attended / I went to / I showed up at

In this sentence, it means something like I went to or I turned up at the polling place.

Compared with fui, acudí often sounds a bit more formal or deliberate.

Why is there an accent on acudí?

The accent mark shows where the stress falls: a-cu-DÍ.

It also helps distinguish the correct past-tense form. In the preterite, many -ir verbs in the yo form end in -í:

• viví = I lived
• recibí = I received
• acudí = I attended / I went

So the accent is a normal part of this verb form.

Why does it say al and not a el?

Because in Spanish, a + el contracts to al.

So:

• a + el local electoral → al local electoral

This contraction is required almost all the time.

The only common exception is when el is part of a proper name, for example:

• Voy a El Escorial.

But here el local electoral is not a proper name, so al is correct.