Voted Best Answer
Sep 05, 2011 - 12:17 PM
Hi Jonathan -- I *think* the answer is: that's just how they do things (sort of like how we spell "rough" ...why do we spell it that way, it makes no sense!?). All but one of your "at + the" contractions (a + definite article) is going to get a double l.
And yes, you're right, "at" is a but "the" in this case, is l' not lo. Use lo in front of masculine nouns that begin with a z, s+consonant, ps or gn. L' goes in front of masculine nouns that begin with a vowel and il in front of all the other ones.
Long story longer, I believe your table of contractions for "at + the" (at this point) should look like so:
a + il = al (al parco)
a + lo = allo (allo stadio)
a + la = alla (alla fermata)
a + l' = all' (all' ufficio)
Hope that helps!
And yes, you're right, "at" is a but "the" in this case, is l' not lo. Use lo in front of masculine nouns that begin with a z, s+consonant, ps or gn. L' goes in front of masculine nouns that begin with a vowel and il in front of all the other ones.
Long story longer, I believe your table of contractions for "at + the" (at this point) should look like so:
a + il = al (al parco)
a + lo = allo (allo stadio)
a + la = alla (alla fermata)
a + l' = all' (all' ufficio)
Hope that helps!