a la, a el & al

Question

are these interchange I know el is for masculine & la for feminine. But can al be used instead?

Answer 1

"al" is a contraction of "a el" and must be used with masculine articles preceeded by "a" except in cases of "a él" (to him). It cannot be used with femine articles.

Answer 2

If the "a" is followed by the word "él", meaning "he", then it cannot be added (remember the accent!).

If it is used with "el" e.g go to the car / "va al coche", coche is masculine so "el coche", which can be joined with "al".

It cannot be used with feminine nouns, as it wouldn't work

Of course, "al" is used when there isn't actually a masculine object. E.G. "al comer" / "upon eating".