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Los niños van al zoológico el martes.

Los niños van al zoológico el martes.
The children are going to the zoo on Tuesday.
From Lesson 31:Preposition contractions (al, del)·Spanish (Latin America)

Questions & Answers about Los niños van al zoológico el martes.

Why does the sentence use al zoológico instead of a el zoológico?
In Spanish, whenever the preposition a (to) is followed immediately by the masculine singular article el (the), they must combine into the single word al. This is a mandatory contraction, so saying a el is always incorrect.
Why do we use el before martes? Does it mean 'the Tuesday'?
In Spanish, you do not use a direct translation of 'on' for days of the week. To say 'on Tuesday', you simply use the masculine article el right before the day: el martes.
Why is it el martes and not los martes if multiple children are going?
The day of the week stays singular because the trip to the zoo is happening on one specific Tuesday. If the children went to the zoo every single Tuesday as a routine, you would use the plural and say los martes (on Tuesdays).
I do not recognize the verb van. What is the base form of this verb?
van comes from the verb ir, which means 'to go'. The verb ir is highly irregular, completely changing its spelling depending on who is doing the action. Because los niños (the children) acts as a plural 'they', we use the 'they' form, which is van.

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