Contractions 'al' and 'del'

"a la" ("to the," femenine)

"al" - which combines "a" and "el" ("to the," masculine)

"a" by itself simply means "to"

Voy a la biblioteca. (I'm going to the library)

Vamos al (a+el) cine. (We're going to the movies)

Vas a la oficina. (You are going to the office)

Ellos van al (a+el) restaurante. (They are going to the restaurant)

"de" simply means "from" or "of"

"de la" ("from/of the," femenine)

"del" is a combination of "de" and "el" ("from/of the," masculine)

Ella es la chica de la oficina. (She is the girl from the office)

Ellos son mis amigos del parque. (They are my friends from the park)

El carro es de la Sra.Phillips. (The car is of Mrs.Phillips / The car is Mrs.Phillips') *Note there are no apostrophes in Spanish, therefore ownership is indicated by "De" instead.