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Ellos viajan al sur.

Ellos viajan al sur.
They travel south.
From Lesson 25:Asking where (dónde, adónde)·Spanish (Latin America)

Breakdown of Ellos viajan al sur.

ellos
they
viajar
to travel
al
to the
el sur
the south

Questions & Answers about Ellos viajan al sur.

If I wanted to ask 'Where are they traveling to?' based on this sentence, which 'where' word should I use?
You would use adónde (to where), because the sentence describes movement toward a destination. The question would be ¿Adónde viajan ellos?. Notice how the answer uses al (to the), which matches the 'to' built into adónde.
Why is it al sur when the English translation just says 'south'?
English says 'travel south,' but Spanish literally says 'travel to the south.' You need a (to) because it's a direction of movement, and el (the) because compass directions in Spanish usually require the word 'the'. When a and el are next to each other, they always combine into the contraction al.
Could I use en instead of a here?
No, because en usually means 'in' or 'on' and shows where something is resting or already located (which answers ¿Dónde?). Since viajar (to travel) is a verb of motion showing where someone is going, you need a to show the destination (which answers ¿Adónde?).
Are compass directions like sur capitalized in Spanish?
No, they are generally written in lowercase (norte, sur, este, oeste) unless they are part of a proper name, like a specific country or region (for example, Carolina del Sur).

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