Breakdown of El despertador está al lado de la cama.
estar
to be (location/state)
la cama
the bed
al lado de
next to
el despertador
the alarm clock
Questions & Answers about El despertador está al lado de la cama.
Why do we use está instead of es for "is" here?
Why is the phrase al lado de rather than a lado de?
The phrase for "next to" is al lado de, which literally means "at the side of". The word al is a mandatory contraction of the preposition a (at/to) and the masculine article el (the). You cannot say a el, it always becomes al.
Is the word despertador (alarm clock) related to a verb?
Yes! It comes from the verb despertar, which means "to wake up". So el despertador literally translates to something like "the waker" or "the waking machine".
Why does de la cama not combine into a single word like al did?
In Spanish, the preposition de only contracts when it meets the masculine word el (becoming del). Because cama is feminine (la cama), the words de and la remain separate.
Learn El despertador está al lado de la cama 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