Difference between "al" and "a el"

Question

What is the difference between al and a el? Al and A el are the same, right?

Community · Accepted Answer · 2020-06-17 09:53:29Z

6

Al is the contraction of a el, the preposition a (at/to) and the article el (the):

Dale esto a-el cartero.

Dale esto al cartero.

Give this to the mailman.

You must always write al, never a el, unless you're talking of a proper noun that includes El:

Vamos a El Salvador.

Let's go to El Salvador.

A él is the preposition a and the personal pronoun él (him).

Dale esto a él.

Give this to him.

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1

answered Feb 22, 2015 at 20:11

Jaume

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2

"The rae now recomends not to write él with diacritic" - Do you have a source for this by any chance? I'd very much like to read about this.
– Cat
Feb 23, 2015 at 2:53
I apparently got mistaken. They never said such thing.
– Jaume
Feb 23, 2015 at 3:07
3

Probably worth noting that it used to be common to see ál (contraction of a él — back in the 1600s and all), but after a while in speech él was being fully distinguished and so in writing it was stopped too.
– user0721090601
Feb 23, 2015 at 3:54

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