Breakdown of Ellos llegan al trabajo en tren.
en
in / on / at
ellos
they
al
to the
llegar
to arrive
el trabajo
work
el tren
train
Questions & Answers about Ellos llegan al trabajo en tren.
Why do we use en here instead of a word that translates directly to "by"?
In Spanish, when talking about modes of transportation, we use the preposition en. While English says "by train", "by car", or "by bus", Spanish essentially says "in train" (en tren), "in car" (en carro), and so on.
What exactly is the word al?
It is a combination of two words. Whenever the preposition a (meaning "to" or "at") is followed immediately by the masculine word for "the" (el), they must smash together to form al. You will never see a el written out; it is always al.
Why does it say al trabajo instead of just a trabajo? English doesn't say "at the work".
Spanish requires definite articles (like el or la) much more often than English does. While we say "to work" or "to school" in English, Spanish requires the article, making it literally "to the work" (al trabajo) or "to the school" (a la escuela).
English uses "arrive at", but doesn't a usually mean "to"?
Yes, a usually means "to". However, in Spanish, the verb llegar (to arrive) always pairs with the preposition a to point to the destination. So instead of arriving "at" a place, in Spanish you arrive "to" a place.
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