Transcript La “a” personal

The personal “a” and “a” and
“de” contractions
Elements of Spanish Sentences

Spanish sentences, like English ones contain a subject, a
verb and an object.
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Yo escucho la radio
S V
O
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Mi amigo come papas fritas.
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Tomamos vino por la mañana.
La “a” personal
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The personal “a” is used when the object of a Spanish
sentence is a person or persons. There is no equivalent
in English.
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Llamo a mi amiga.
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Invitamos a Celia a la fiesta.
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Juana escribe una carta a Juanita.
Common Verbs where people can be objects.
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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…
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When the object of the sentence is not human…
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Karla lleva los libros a la biblioteca
Karla is taking the books to the library.
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Karla lleva a su hermana a la biblioteca.
Karla is taking her sister to the library.
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Neither is it used with the verb “tener”
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Tengo muchos amigos.
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Llevo a mis amigos al cine.
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I take my friends to the movies.
Juan tiene cinco novias.
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I have many friends
Juan has five girlfriends.
Juan invita a sus novias a comer en McDonalds porque no
tiene dinero
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Juan invites his girlfriends to eat at McDonalds because he doesn’t
have money.
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If the objects of the sentence include several individual
people, the “a” is placed before each one.
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Juan invita a María, a Claudia, a Sofía, a Isabel y a
Rosita Chiquita a comer en McDonalds.
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Juan invites Maria, Claudia, Sophia, Isabel and Rosita to eat at
Mc Donalds.
A, De and Contractions
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A
“A” can be used either as the “personal a” or the
preposition “to” or “towards”.
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When “a” comes before the article “el”, they contract to
form “al”.
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Llamo al (a + el) doctor.
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I’m calling the doctor
Llevo a mi amiga al cine.
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I´m taking my friend to the movies..
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De
“De” can be used as the possessive “de” or the
preposition “of/from”
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Similarly when “de” comes before the article “el” they
contract to form “del”
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Vengo del club
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I’m coming from the club.
La esposa del profesor es muy guapa.
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The professor’s wife is very beautiful
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De and A do not contract with la, los or las.
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Conozco a la mamá de mi amigo.
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I know my mom´s friend.
Vamos a los juegos olímpicos.
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We´re going to the Olympic Games.
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De and A also do not contract with the subject pronoun
él:
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Recibo una carta de él