In Spanish, the structure “al + infinitive” is used to explain the cause or circumstance that leads to something happening. It often means something like: “by doing…” “when doing…” “while doing…” It usually introduces background information that explains the result. Structure al + infinitive Examples: Al vivir en España, aprendí muchas expresiones nuevas. (By living in Spain, I learned many new expressions.) So the idea is: the action after “al” explains why the result happened.