Learn Spanish (Latin America): Yo voy al mercado y compro un kilo de manzanas. - I go to the market and buy a kilo of apples.

In Spanish, when the preposition a (to) is followed by the masculine word for "the" (el), they always merge to form the contraction al. Since mercado is a masculine word, we say voy al mercado. If the destination were feminine, like la tienda (the store), the words would stay separate: voy a la tienda.

How do we get voy from the verb ir (to go)?

Ir is a highly irregular verb, meaning it doesn't follow the normal spelling patterns for verbs. To say "I go", the word changes completely to voy. Because it's used so often to talk about destinations, you'll naturally memorize it very quickly!

Why isn't there a yo before compro?

In Spanish, you can usually drop words like yo (I) because the verb's ending already tells you who is acting. Compro ends in -o, which means "I buy." Since you already started the sentence with Yo voy (I go), it's completely clear that you are also the one doing the buying.

Why is the word de used in un kilo de manzanas?