Five-minute Spanish Lessons - Lesson 22.

Prepositions (4)

Spanish Personal "a" and English translations 2

Here are some exceptions in the use of the Spanish personal "a". Although it is usually used before a person when a direct object, it is not usually placed before the verb to have for possession, in Spanish: tener.

Tengo dos hijos.

I've got two children.

But there is another use of tener when personal "a" is used. The meaning is based on the idea of how somebody treats or uses another person:

Tiene a sus hijos como esclavos.

She treats her children like slaves.

Tengo a mi mujer a régimen.

I'm keeping my wife on a diet.

The verb querer in Spanish has two meanings: to want and to love. When it means to love, we use personal "a":

Quiero a mi mujer.

I love my wife.

Quiero una mujer para limpiar la casa.

I want a woman to clean the house.

However, with personal pronouns, we have to use personal "a":

Yo te quiero a ti.

Here "a" is used to emphasize "a ti" (I love you) and not somebody else. Otherwise, we could say: (Yo) te quiero.

I love you.

Or,

I want you.

So, to avoid confusion, the second example would be phrased in another way:

Yo quiero que tú vengas a limpiar.

I want you to come and clean.

When there are two person objects in a sentence as direct and indirect object, a Spanish sentence drops the personal "a" before the direct object and uses "a" in front of the indirect object:

Voy a presentar Paco a Carmen (not, a Paco)

So this type of sentence translates in a similar way in English:

I'm going to introduce Paco to Carmen.

Envié mi madre al médico. (not, a mi madre)

I sent my mother to the doctor's.

When we refer to nouns which represent groups of people, we also use personal "a" in Spanish:

Hay que evitar a la multitud.

We must avoid the crowds.

Con esta política Francia ha puesto a Inglaterra en un apuro.

Here Inglaterra means the English (a group).

With this policy France has put England (the English) in a predicament.

But compare:

Odio Inglaterra; es un país tan frío y húmedo.

Here Inglaterra means the country not the English.

I hate England; it's such a cold and wet country.

Personal "a" with non-animate objects.

Finally, there are situations when we use personal "a" before non-human and non-animal objects. Learners of Spanish must remember that this language is very flexible as to the order of the parts of a sentence. Consider this relative clause in English:

Software that protects your PC.

Learners of English should know that English has a fairly rigid word order. This is: subject + verb + object. But Spanish syntax can be: subject + verb + object or, direct object + verb + subject.

So, to avoid ambiguity (ie. which is the subject) we place "a" before the direct object when the subject comes before the verb:

1) Un software que protege a su PC.

Subject + verb + object

Or, in other words in Spanish:

2) Su PC protege un software.

Direct object + verb + subject

Both these sentences (1 and 2) in Spanish mean in English:

1) Software that protects your PC. / 2) Software protects your PC.

Without "a" in sentence 1, the meaning would be:

Your PC that protects software.

Subject + verb + object

Here are some more examples of where the subject comes before the verb in Spanish. But note that the word order in English never varies:

No sé si esto puede dañar al equipo.

I don't know if this could damage the equipment.

La huelga afectó al tráfico.

The strike affected the traffic.

Top

Copyright 2022 English Spanish Link
All rights reserved