Contractions in Spanish.

Question

Hasta donde yo se . There are very few true contractions in Spanish. I only know of three.

"A el" and "de el "and "antier"

Do you know of any others?

¿Qué significa "antier"? - danrivera, Jun 23, 2011

Day before yesterday contracted - pacofinkler, Jun 23, 2011

I have never heard of "antier" - vivalafuriaroja, Jun 23, 2011

We use it here in México - pacofinkler, Jun 23, 2011

both forms are in Rae - pacofinkler, Jun 23, 2011

Antier=antes de ayer - ADOLFOTRANA, Jun 23, 2011

Ah! Okay. Hmm. That is a new one. - danrivera, Jun 24, 2011

Answer 1

How about "conmigo" and "contigo"?

Those are more aberrations rather than contractions, hehe. Originally they were "mecum" ("me + cum" = me + with) and "tecum" ("te + cum" = you + with), but that way of using the preposition after the pronoun was maybe fine in Latin, but didn't make much sense to the same people hundreds of years after Latin was no longer Latin, and since they did not realize that the "con" (with) they wanted to use to express companionship (notice the "com" at the beginning of this word) was already at the end of "mecum", "tecum"..., they added "cum" again! The result was "con mecum" (with me with), which eventually fused into a single word. At some point it was a (completely redundant) contraction, but nowadays it is not, since "con migo" is not even correct.

Gracias otra vez lazarus - pacofinkler, Jun 23, 2011

I could gobble up and read everything you write for hours on end ... - territurtle, Jun 23, 2011

Answer 2

Oh, wow---there are 3? I'm embarrassed to say I only thought there were two, del and al.

That was what i thought as well! - pacofinkler, Jun 23, 2011

Same here. - territurtle, Jun 23, 2011

Answer 3

Technically speaking, there are the 2 that Sonrisas mentioned.

"Antier" is a perfect example of something that would make the eyes spin in their sockets of someone who is inclined to speak "standard Spanish" (whatever that is, but let's not argue about it!) "Mijo" is another one that is heard a lot in Mexico. "Panada" and "pos" might go into this category also, although some would say they are sloppy speech.

I bet if you opened a new post about regional contractions, or something along those lines, you would get a lot of replies.

Hi Mountaingirl, the above are slang and not in drae, I am looking for recognized contractions - pacofinkler, Jun 23, 2011

Thank you mountaingirl!! - pacofinkler, Jun 23, 2011

Mountaingirl, I am searching for contractions in Spanish that are recognized by the various spanish and latin american acedemies - pacofinkler, Jun 23, 2011

uff spelling! - pacofinkler, Jun 23, 2011

well, Paco, I'm guessing you've got the "al" and "del" situation. I didn't know that "antiyer" was recognized....I learn something new every day on this site! - mountaingirl123, Jun 23, 2011

My goodness don´t we all Mountaingirl! - pacofinkler, Jun 23, 2011

Answer 4

There are only two compulsory standard contractions in Spanish. Do you need more?

As many as exist not slang - pacofinkler, Jun 23, 2011

Only those two, then. - lazarus1907, Jun 23, 2011

Thanks as always!! - pacofinkler, Jun 23, 2011

Answer 5

How about "conmigo" and "contigo"?

not really contractions as I understand La Burra Thank you! - pacofinkler, Jun 23, 2011

a contraction drops some letters from the words. What letters are dropped in contigo, conmigo, consigo? - 0074b507, Jun 23, 2011

You want only cases where one or more letter is omitted. Can't think of any besides al and del. - LaBurra, Jun 23, 2011

I know they are rare in Spanish, thats why the question - pacofinkler, Jun 23, 2011

Not sure that antier (anteayer) works either as it changes lettters (similar to ain't for are not....a colloquialism) - 0074b507, Jun 23, 2011

I checked Rae both are there seems the onl other i can find - pacofinkler, Jun 23, 2011