Help with the preposition de?

Question

I dont really understand how they work for example Es el carro de ernesto and son los amigos de la profesora

I get the second one but wouldnt the first one have el in it? What makes it del or de

Answer 1

The second one does have "el" in it, but if you mean wouldn't there be an additional "el" before the word "Ernesto," the answer is no because "Ernesto" is a person's name (and, by the way, should be capitalized). "Del" is the contraction of "de" and "el," so the only time you should use "del" is when "de" would otherwise be followed by "el," making "de el."

So if it has a person's name in the sentence it would just be de? No la or el? - Hopeneo, Nov 22, 2016

Correct. We say that it's the car of Ernesto, not the car of the Ernesto. - jtaniel, Nov 22, 2016

You should be aware thought that in some countries when people are speaking in their everyday speech in can vary. For example, if in Mexico you said "vi a la Mónica" it'd be incorrect/rude whereas in Chile it'd be normal speech - nimi25, Dec 10, 2016

Though* it can vary** - nimi25, Dec 10, 2016