When should the personal a be used in a sentence, and why? Write your answer in English. Next, write a complete sentence in Spanish that uses the personal a.
Now, please only use the Lesson for information.
Lesson 1: La gramática. "¡Hola! ¡Vi a Teresa en el museo!" That means, "Hello! I saw Teresa at the museum." In Spanish, when the direct object is a person, we add an a in front of it. There is no exact translation of this word to English, but the preposition a means to. So a great way to remember to add the personal a to a sentence is to think of the action going to a person. And, it is called the personal a. Here are some examples of the personal a: Visité a mi tío Isaac en Santiago. I visited my Uncle Isaac in Santiago. ¿Ayudaste a tu padre? Did you help your dad? Here are some examples of inanimate direct objects: Visité el museo. I visited the museum. Vi la obra de teatro en Nueva York. I saw the play in New York. Notice that the direct objects that are people have the personal a in front of them. The direct objects that are inanimate objects do not have the personal a. Tip: Remember that the direct object of a sentence receives the action of the verb. For example, the italicized phrases are the direct objects of each sentence that follows: Vi un oso en el zoológico. I saw a bear at the zoo. Busqué el tren. I looked for the train. In some Spanish dialects, when the direct object is a housepet or domestic animal, the personal a is added.
Lesson 2: La a personal. Add the preposition a in front of a direct object that is a person or serves as a representation of a person. Inanimate direct objects do not require the personal a. Here are some examples of the personal a, with the direct object italicized: Visité a Teresa en la escuela. I visited Teresa at school. ¿Viste a tu padre? Did you see your dad? Tip: The contraction al is formed when the masculine singular article el follows the personal a. Vi a el padre de Teresa. → Vi al padre de Teresa. Here are some examples of direct objects that are inanimate. In these cases, we do not use the personal a: Esperé el tren. I waited for the train. Vi el monumento en Chicago. I saw the monument in Chicago.
Lesson 3: Use the personal "a" when the object that is receiving an action is a person. Juan escucha a María. Juan escucha musica. • Use the personal "a" when you are referring to a pet. •You don't use the personal "a" with animals but if the animal is a pet you do use the personal a).
The personal a should be used in a sentence when the direct object is a person or a pet. It is used to indicate that the action is being directed towards that person or pet. Inanimate objects do not require the personal a.
Vi a mi amigo en el parque. (I saw my friend at the park)