Breakdown of Ellos regresan del estadio.
ellos
they
regresar
to return
el estadio
the stadium
del
from the / of the
Questions & Answers about Ellos regresan del estadio.
Why is it del instead of de el?
del is a mandatory contraction of the preposition de (from) and the masculine singular article el (the). In Spanish, whenever de is followed directly by el, they always squeeze together into the single word del.
Would I also combine the words if they were returning from a feminine place, like the house (la casa)?
No, the contraction only happens with the masculine article el. If they were returning from the house, it would stay as two separate words: de la casa.
Why does regresan translate to 'are returning'? Isn't it just 'return'?
In Spanish, the simple present tense like regresan covers both 'they return' (a general habit) and 'they are returning' (an action happening right now). You don't always need a special verb form to express what is happening currently.
Could I drop Ellos and just say Regresan del estadio?
Yes, you can! Because the verb ending -an in regresan already tells us the subject is 'they' (or 'you all'), the pronoun Ellos is optional and often dropped by native speakers.