Al

In general I understand what is meant by Al. But what is its meaning in this context David Galván fue el mejor mexicano *al* llegar en quinto sitio Thxs Nev

Hello Nev, The sentence is basically saying David Galván became the best Mexican, as soon as he arrived in the fifth position. Not sure the best at what, as it was not on the sentence you mentioned, which makes it a little confusing. Anyway "Al" on this sentence is being used the same way as the saying "As soon as" Por ejemplo: Al llegar al cine, comenzó la película. (As soon as I arrived at the cinema, the movie started.) Al entrar en la casa, comenzó la fiesta (As soon as I entered the house, the party started) Al abrir la tienda, se lleno de gente. (As soon as the shop opened, it filled up with people) It is quite a common phrase when you want to emphasize the exact time something happened. I hope that helps. Mauricio.

Thanks for the response Mauricio By the way David Galvan is a marathon runner. However the translation does not sound so great in English "David Galván became the best Mexican, as soon as he arrived in the fifth position" Would a better translation in this instance not be David Galvan was the best Mexican, arriving in fifth place. This almost renders al as a non translated word. Al seems very similar to sin eg Lo hablé sin pensar = I said it without thinking. Do you know what the grammatical term is for using either sin or al in conjuction with a verb in the infinitive form Why when using Al is the verb always in the infinitive form? I have some sentences that use Al Le vi al slir del hotel = I saw him on leaving the hotel Al entrar en el cuatro = On entering the room Sonrió al verme = He smiled when he saw me Le saludé al entrar = He greeted me as I entered I am not sure how accurate these are but the point being that al + Infintive = Many different translations Do you know of any other expressions using al? Regards Neville

[quo]*Quote from * nevjohnson Le saludé al entrar = He greeted me as I entered [/quo] Hola Neville. I'm not sure, but I think that "He greeted me as I entered" would be "*Me saludó al entrar*." Your sentence looks as if it means "I greeted him as I/he entered." (I'd probably use "lo" rather than "le," but I've been told that "le" is often used instead of "lo" in Spain.) In both of the above sentences, however, I wonder how one can tell who is doing the entering, I or he. In other words, how can one differentiate in Spanish between "I greeted him as I entered" and "I greeted him as he entered"? :?

NoHablo, You are correct I got them the wrong way around. On the subject of lo. I generally use le to describe both him and her. Although it seems common (here in Mexico) that people use lo and la. Eg. I often have heard the expression "No lo ví" But I was told that this is common but not actually correct. One should use No le vi. Any thoughts on this on. Is this a Castillana Spanish vs Latin American Spanish issue? Sal2 Neville

Hola Neville. _Búscalo: A Quick Reference Guide to Spanish Grammar and Usage_ lists *lo *and *la *as the singular direct object pronouns, but it adds that "*le* is sometimes used instead of *lo*, especially in Spain, to mean _him_ or _you_.

[quo]*Quote:* [On the subject of lo. I generally use le to describe both him and her. Although it seems common (here in Mexico) that people use lo and la.[/quo] Neville, In school, I learned that "le" was for people (usted, el, ella) and "lo" and "la" were for animals or things. However, I noticed that my Mexican friends also use "lo" and "la" for people! Since I have more trouble understanding when more pronouns are used, this really confuses me! I just assumed it was incorrect grammar, and I do my best to decipher.