Breakdown of Yo voy al mercado y compro un kilo de manzanas.
yo
I
de
from / of
y
and
la manzana
the apple
un
a, an (masculine)
comprar
to buy
ir
to go
al
to the
el mercado
the market
el kilo
the kilo
Questions & Answers about Yo voy al mercado y compro un kilo de manzanas.
Why does it say al mercado instead of a el mercado?
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?
Learn Yo voy al mercado y compro un kilo de manzanas and more in Spanish
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free