Use of al

Question

Could someone explain why the contraction ' al' is used in the following :al volver, al regresar llama al 555 5555 (telefono) , al mes, presentan al protagonista. I understand the translation into English. However, I am not clear what is reason or rationale gramatically. Si alguien puede explicarme, ayudame por favor. Gracias!

Answer 1

There are a number of uses of a, and hence combining a plus el to make al. Your examples lack context but I will do my best with each case.

al volver, al regresar llama al 555 5555 (telefono) , al mes, presentan al protagonista

al volver- "al plus infinitive" is commonly used to mean "upon plus gerund" in English. I can't say why, it just is. Al volver= upon returning.

al regresar llama al 555 5555 (telefono)- the first al is the same as above, upon returning, followed by the command llama (call) to the (telephone number) 555-5555. That is just how it is expressed.

al mes- here I think "al" means "per" in essence- "to the month" - tres veces al mes- three times per months, three times a month, three times to the month.

presentan al protagonista- here a is the personal a, necessary when the direct object, el protagonista, is a person. They present the protagonist.

Ha. Just finished answering and thought I'd check I wasn't double posting. Good news is I'd given the same answers so yours get a vote from me Bosque :) - jellonz, Nov 16, 2016