Transcript La “a” personal

The personal “a”
Elements of Spanish Sentences

Spanish sentences, like English ones contain a subject, a
verb and an object.

Yo escucho la radio
S V
O



Mi amigo come papas fritas.

Tomamos vino por la mañana.
La “a” personal

The personal “a” is used when the object of a Spanish
sentence is a person or persons. There is no equivalent
in English.

Llamo a mi amiga.

Invitamos a Celia a la fiesta.

Juana escribe una carta a Juanita.
Common Verbs where people can be objects.










Llamar
Llevar
Invitar
Escribir
Conocer
Ver
Amar
Hablar
Mandar/enviar
Dar
To call (someone)
To take (someone somewhere)
To invite (someone)
To write (someone something)
To know (someone)
To see (someone)
To love (someone)
To talk (to someone)*
To send (someone something)
To give (someone something)
The personal a is not used…

When the object of the sentence is not human…

Karla lleva los libros a la biblioteca
Karla is taking the books to the library.



Karla lleva a su hermana a la biblioteca.
Karla is taking her sister to the library.

Neither is it used with the verb “tener”

Tengo muchos amigos.


Llevo a mis amigos al cine.


I take my friends to the movies.
Juan tiene cinco novias.


I have many friends
Juan has five girlfriends.
Juan invita a sus novias a comer en McDonalds porque no
tiene dinero

Juan invites his girlfriends to eat at McDonalds because he doesn’t
have money.

If the objects of the sentence include several individual
people, the “a” is placed before each one.

Juan invita a María, a Claudia, a Sofía, a Isabel y a
Rosita Chiquita a comer en McDonalds.

Juan invites Maria, Claudia, Sophia, Isabel and Rosita to eat at
Mc Donalds.