Questions & Answers about No, voy al trabajo.
Why does the sentence use al instead of a el?
In Spanish, when the preposition a (to) is followed by the masculine singular article el (the), they must combine to form the contraction al. It is a mandatory rule, so you will never see a el written together.
In English we just say "going to work." Why does Spanish say "to the work" (al trabajo)?
Spanish uses definite articles (like el and la) more often than English. While English leaves out "the" for general destinations like work, school, or church, Spanish usually requires it. So, you literally say "I go to the work" (voy al trabajo).
Doesn't trabajo mean "I work"? How do we know it means the place here?
trabajo can be the "yo" (I) form of the verb trabajar (to work), but it is also a masculine noun meaning "job" or "workplace". You can tell it is a noun in this sentence because it has the article el (hidden inside al) right in front of it.
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