Are al & a la interchangeable?

Question

Are al & a la interchangeable?

Answer 1

No. Al is the contraction for a el, and is used with masculine nouns. A la is used with feminine nouns.

Answer 2

No, they aren't.

1. a + el becomes al and it's masculine.
2. a la is femenine.

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• Voy al trabajo.
• Voy a la escuela.

Answer 3

"Al" and "a la" are not interchangeable because they follow grammar rules based on whether the noun they're modifying is masculine/feminine. In this article, there is a good section explaining the uses of the preposition "a" in detail and when to use "a la" and "al".

Prepositions