why use de

Question

Why do you use a 'de' in the phrase, ir de compras?

Answer 1

"ir de compras", "estar de vacaciones", "ponerse de pie", dormir de lado, olvidarse de, etc. They are simply phrases that use the preposition "de". It is just the way they are formed. They can't be literally translated to English, but you can be sure they won't change their meaning, so try to learn them as set phrases. There is really no technical reason that I can think of to explain why "de" is used to form these expressions. It is necessary to include it for the phrase to make sense.

Answer 2

bienvenido al foro andrew. Good question, someone smart will answer this for you.