Español homophones
al/all
"al" is a contraction; "all" is an adjective - grammar picks the spelling, not sound. Size rank #33 of 387 Spanish groups.
Data vintage
Grammar picks the spelling
Same sound, different grammar: "al" arrives as a contraction, while "all" is an adjective. Once the sentence role is fixed, only one spelling fits.
Spelling pairs in this cluster
- Shared stem "al" then splits - "al" (2 letters) vs "all" (3).
Orthographic DNA of this cluster
Shared letters across al, all: al. Private letters are the ones only one spelling owns: the eye's fastest tell once sound is out of the picture.
al
2 letters · 1 vowels · shape VC
Inventory al · no private letters vs siblings
all
3 letters · 1 vowels · shape VCC
Inventory al · no private letters vs siblings
Pick the spelling from the meaning
- Write "al" when you mean: Contracción de la preposición a y el artículo el (masculino singular) Forma obligatoriamente contracta; la forma *a el no está aceptada p…
- Write "all" when you mean: Otro.