Breakdown of Mi hijo va al trabajo en coche.
el coche
the car
en
in / on / by (means of transport) / about (after pensar)
mi
my
el hijo
the son
ir
to go
al
to the (m)
el trabajo
the work
Questions & Answers about Mi hijo va al trabajo en coche.
Why do we use al instead of a here?
In this sentence, al is the mandatory combination of the preposition a (to) and the masculine definite article el (the). Whenever a is followed by el, they must shrink together to form the single word al.
Why does the Spanish sentence say al trabajo (to the work) when English just says 'to work'?
In Spanish, common destinations like trabajo (work) usually need their definite article (el or la) when you talk about going to them. Because trabajo is a masculine noun, it uses el, which then combines with the preposition a to make al.
Why do we use en for 'by car'?
To say you travel 'by' a type of vehicle (like a car, train, or bus), Spanish uses the preposition en. So 'by car' translates to en coche. A common exception to remember is going 'on foot', which is a pie.
Which verb does va come from?
va is the 'he/she/it' form of the highly irregular verb ir (to go). It matches the subject of the sentence, Mi hijo (my son).
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