Al vs. El

[Brak23]

Hello everyone,

This is my first time posting on this forum, and im excited to have some resources to help my understanding of spanish as I learn it.

My first question is regarding a syntax ive seen in rosetta stone in one of my lessons.

Right now, the program just got to the portion talking about "le gusta", and i've noticed a different syntax happening. For instance, one of the sentences is: Al niño no le gusta jugar al tenis

This confuses me because Im so used to going El Niño in this case. So in my mind, based on what ive learned it should say: El niño no le gusta jugar al tenis.

The internet says Al = A + El. But that still confuses me because the sentence is still saying "The boy/child..."

So I turn to this awesome forum in hopes of some help! Thanks!

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

Welcome to the forums.

"El niño" is the indirect object, not the subject of the sentence. Verbs like "gustar", "encantar", "interesar", "molestar", "disgustar"... have this particular construction.

Take a look here, here, here and here for long explanations and more examples.