What is the difference between the Spanish words de and del?

Answer 1

The spanish word De means 'of'. The Spanish word del means of the. Del is a Spanish contraction formed by taking the words de and el and combining them together.

Instead of saying: "Este es la casa de el perro" (This is the dog's house).

You would say: "Este es la casa del perro"

This contraction only works with the article 'el'. You cannot contract the articles la, los, or las in the same way you do 'el'.

This contraction concept also works with the word 'a' which means to.

Instead of saying: "Voy a el parque" (I'm going to the park)

You would say: "Voy al parque".

This is also not like English where you can use either do not or don't and still be correct. In Spanish the contractions 'del' and 'al' MUST be contracted.