al is a Spanish preposition that means 'to the' or 'at the'.
preposition
Meaning: to the
Voy al parque.
I'm going to the park.
Meaning: to
Voy al cine.
I'm going to the cinema.
Meaning: at the
Estoy al teléfono.
I'm on the phone.
Meaning: on the
El libro está al escritorio.
The book is on the desk.
Meaning: in the
La tienda está al centro comercial.
The store is in the shopping mall.
A1: Voy al supermercado.
A1: I'm going to the supermarket.
A1: Ella va al cine los fines de semana.
A1: She goes to the cinema on weekends.
A1: Él fue al parque ayer.
A1: He went to the park yesterday.
B1: Vamos a ir al concierto esta noche.
B1: We are going to the concert tonight.
B1: ¿Has ido alguna vez al extranjero?
B1: Have you ever been abroad?
B2: Me gustaría viajar al Caribe el próximo verano.
B2: I would like to travel to the Caribbean next summer.
B2: Ellos habían ido al restaurante antes de la fiesta.
B2: They had gone to the restaurant before the party.
C1: Después de haber estudiado mucho, finalmente llegué al nivel avanzado del idioma.
C1: After studying a lot, I finally reached the advanced level of the language.
C1: Al escuchar su historia, me di cuenta de lo valiente que era.
C1: By listening to his story, I realized how brave he was.
C2: Al haber trabajado en diferentes países, ha adquirido una gran experiencia internacional.
C2: By having worked in different countries, he has gained a lot of international experience.
The preposition al is a contraction of the preposition a (meaning 'to' or 'at') and the definite article el (meaning 'the'). It is used to indicate movement or direction towards a specific location, or to express the location of an action.
For example, in the sentence 'Voy al parque', which translates to 'I am going to the park', the preposition al indicates the movement towards the park. In another example, 'Estoy en el cine', which means 'I am at the cinema', the preposition al expresses the location of the action of being at the cinema.
It is important to note that al is only used before masculine singular nouns. Before feminine singular nouns, the preposition a is used instead.