understanding a contraction al
La niña se puso a gritar al ver la araña en su almohada.
I would have written this sentence the same way but instead of "al ver" I would have written "a la vista de" When can I just use an infinitive instead...?... I'm confused. Instead of saying "at the sight of a spider" it's saying "to the to see the spider"
1 Answer
Your sentence means: The girl started screaming upon seeing the spider on her pillow.
From about.com:
The use of the contraction al followed by an infinitive is a very common way of indicating when something happens.
Al followed by an infinitive is usually the approximate equivalent of "upon," "on" or "when" followed by the gerund (the "-ing" form of a verb) in English.
Here are some examples of this usage:
El diagnóstico se hace al encontrar que hay dolor. (The diagnosis is done upon finding that there is pain.)
Hay error al enviar mensajes desde mi programa de correo. (There is an error when sending messages from my email program.)
Lea en la mañana al despertarse; lea en la noche al acostarse. (Read in the morning on getting up; read in the evening when going to bed.)
