Breakdown of Las chicas regresan del colegio al pueblo.
las
the (feminine plural)
la chica
the girl (older / teenager)
regresar
to return
al
to the
del
from the / of the
el colegio
the school
el pueblo
the town
Questions & Answers about Las chicas regresan del colegio al pueblo.
Why does the sentence use del colegio instead of de el colegio?
In Spanish, when the preposition de (from) is followed by the masculine word for "the" (el), they always squeeze together to form the contraction del. Saying de el is actually incorrect!
Is al pueblo formed the same way as del colegio?
Yes! Just like de + el becomes del, the preposition a (to) combines with el (the) to make al. So, a + el pueblo becomes al pueblo (to the town).
If they were going to a city (ciudad) instead of a town (pueblo), would we still use al?
No, because ciudad is a feminine word (la ciudad). The contractions al and del only happen with the masculine "the" (el). If they were going to the city, the words would stay separate: a la ciudad.
Does colegio mean "college"?
It looks like it, but this is a classic "false friend." In Latin America, colegio usually refers to a school (like elementary or high school). If you want to say "college" or "university," you would use the word universidad.
The English translation says "are returning," but isn't regresan just "return"?
In Spanish, the simple present tense (regresan) covers both "they return" as a general fact and "they are returning" right now. You don't need a separate word for "are" here!
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