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A personal
Although normally prepositions are not used in front of direct objects, in Spanish there is a special preposition called the personal a which precedes direct objects that refer to people, personified nouns, and animals.
Por ejemplo …
| Veo a la mujer. | I see the woman. | |
| ¿Quieres a Miguel? | Do you like Miguel? | |
| ¡Invitemos a nuestros profesores! | Let’s invite our teachers! | |
| Todo el mundo teme a la muerte. | Everyone fears death. | |
| Está paseando a tres perros. | She’s walking three dogs. |
The personal a is also used in front of pronouns that replace people.
| Veo a alguien. | I see someone. | |
| No quiere a nadie. | He doesn’t love anyone. | |
| Invité a mi hermano. ¿Invitaste a lo mío? | I invited my brother. Did you invite mine? |
The personal a is used in front of interrogative words like quién and cuánto when the answer to the question requires the personal a.
| ¿A quién llamaste? Llamé a Paco. | Who did you call? I called Paco. | |
| ¿A cuántos conoces? Conozco a Ana y Luís. | How many (of the people) do you know? I know Ana and Luís. |
The personal a is usually not used after the verb tener, with collective nouns, or with nouns referring to unspecified people.
| Tengo dos hermanos. | I have two brothers. | |
| Vi el grupo ayer. | I saw the group yesterday. | |
| Buscamos un cantador. | We’re looking for a singer. |
Related lessons
Spanish lesson plans
- Personal A (Lesson, 6th-12th grade)
- Personal A (Worksheet, 6th-8th grade)
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