Questions & Answers about Hay un regalo dentro de la caja.
Why use dentro de here when en also means "in"?
Do I always need the de after dentro?
You need the de when you are specifically naming the object that something is inside of (in this case, la caja). These complex prepositions use de to connect to the noun. If you just wanted to say "The gift is inside" without mentioning the box, you would drop the de and usually say El regalo está adentro.
What if the gift was inside a masculine object? Would de change?
Yes! If the gift was inside a car (el auto), the de and el would combine into the contraction del. You would say dentro del auto. Here, because caja is feminine, it stays as two separate words: de la.
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