/del/
Translation
of the, from the
Word origin
A contraction of the preposition de plus the article el, from Latin de ('from, of') plus ille ('that, the').
- Origin
- Latin
- Root
- de ille
Examples
.
The head of the department will arrive tomorrow.
.
I am coming from work and I am very tired.
.
The end of the match was exciting.
.
The taste of the coffee changes depending on the bean's origin.
encantados .
They came out of the cinema delighted with the film.
Del is the mandatory contraction of the preposition de and the masculine singular definite article el. Spanish requires this contraction whenever de immediately precedes el - writing "de el" separately is a grammatical error.
The contraction only applies to the article el, not to the pronoun él (he). "Vengo de él" (I come from him) is correct and does not contract. Similarly, no contraction occurs before feminine la ("de la casa") or plural los/las ("de los niños").
Where this fits
Used in
Stories
(25)Lo mismo de siempre
2 min read · Core 1000
Cuanto más espero, peor
3 min read · Core 5000
¿El coche o el carro?
3 min read · Core 5000
La conductora de la ambulancia
3 min read · Core 5000
El correo a la jefa
3 min read · Core 5000
El mejor café de la calle
3 min read · Core 5000
El perro del barrio
3 min read · Core 5000
Es importante que descanses
3 min read · Core 5000
Espero que vengáis
3 min read · Core 5000
La fábrica de madera
3 min read · Core 5000
La nota de Rafa
3 min read · Core 5000
La promesa de Lucía
3 min read · Core 5000
Laura busca piso
3 min read · Core 5000
Lleva toda la mañana
3 min read · Core 5000
Media docena de huevos
3 min read · Core 5000
Menudo desastre
3 min read · Core 5000
Pasen y siéntense
3 min read · Core 5000
Por lo tanto, decidimos
3 min read · Core 5000
Por todas partes
3 min read · Core 5000
Preparando la visita
3 min read · Core 5000
Se me cayó todo
3 min read · Core 5000
Tú y tu hermano
3 min read · Core 5000
Una organización imposible
3 min read · Core 5000
¡Vaya sorpresa!
3 min read · Core 5000
Palabras de cocina
5 min read · Core 1000
Grammar articles
(16)Spanish Articles: Definite vs Indefinite, Gender, Number, and When English Doesn't Use One
Spanish Formal Commands: usted and ustedes
Spanish Fixed Similes: dormir como un tronco, más bueno que el pan, terco como una mula
Spanish Time and Frequency Phrases: de vez en cuando, a menudo, de repente, poco a poco
Spanish Ordinals, Fractions, Dates and Time (el primer día, media hora, son las tres y cuarto)
The Spanish Pluperfect Subjunctive and Conditional Perfect (hubiera hablado, habría hablado)
Spanish Compound Prepositions and Tricky Choices: delante de, a pesar de, soñar con
Spanish Prepositions: de, a, en, con, por, para and the Two Contractions
Spanish Punctuation and Capitalisation: the opening ¿ and ¡, lowercase lunes and español
Spanish Quantifiers: mucho, poco, demasiado, todo, cada (mucha gente vs trabaja mucho)
Spanish Reciprocal Verbs (se quieren, nos ayudamos - each other)
Advanced Spanish Relative Pronouns: el que, el cual, lo cual and cuyo
Spanish Relative Pronouns: que, quien, lo que, donde and cuando
The Spanish Subjunctive in Relative (Adjective) Clauses, with Practice
Spanish Superlatives: El Mejor, El Más, and the -ísimo Ending
Verbs of Becoming in Spanish: ponerse, hacerse, volverse, convertirse en, llegar a ser
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del: worksheet, infographic and listicle
Free printable study downloads for the Spanish word "del" (of the, from the): a worksheet with the answer key built in, an infographic, and a sentence listicle. Open any one to view, print or save.
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