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, only use my lesson for information: 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.
The personal a should be used in a sentence when the direct object is a person. It is used to show respect and importance to the person who is receiving the action of the verb.
Vi a mi amiga en el parque. (I saw my friend in the park.)