Sunday, 10 April 2011

The Personal 'A'


It is very important to learn that in Spanish, anytime we refer to a direct object that is a person, we must use the personal 'a'. For the most part, this has no translation in English.

I.  The personal 'a' will precede the direct object, if the direct object is a person.

"Vi a María" would translate into "I saw María".

II.  There are exceptions to this rule.

A. If an object is being personified (such as a doll, a city, etc.) then the personal 'a' will be used in that sentence even though the object isn't a person.

B. On the other hand, the personal 'a' is usually not used after the verb tener.

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