Voy a prestar mi diccionario a un amigo para que estudie inglés.

I

Breakdown of Voy a prestar mi diccionario a un amigo para que estudie inglés.

• mi: my
• el amigo: the friend
• él: he
• a: to
• ir: to go
• estudiar: to study
• prestar: to lend
• para que: so
• el diccionario: the dictionary
• inglés: English

Questions & Answers about Voy a prestar mi diccionario a un amigo para que estudie inglés.

Why is para que used here instead of something like para?

In Spanish, para plus an infinitive indicates a purpose or goal for the same subject, like Voy a la biblioteca para estudiar (“I’m going to the library to study”). However, when you want to express a purpose or goal that applies to a different subject, you need para que followed by the subjunctive. That’s why it’s para que estudie (so that he studies) rather than para estudiar.

Why do we use the subjunctive estudie and not the indicative estudia?

In Spanish, the subjunctive mood is used after para que to express a wish, intention, or purpose involving a different subject. Since your friend (not you) is doing the studying, estudie is in the subjunctive.

Could I say Le voy a prestar mi diccionario instead of Voy a prestar mi diccionario a un amigo?

Yes, you can replace a un amigo with the indirect object pronoun le, which often comes before the conjugated verb. You could say Le voy a prestar mi diccionario para que estudie inglés or even Voy a prestarle mi diccionario para que estudie inglés. Both are correct and more common in everyday speech.

Is it necessary to use the personal a before un amigo?

In this sentence, a is not just the personal a but part of the construction prestar algo a alguien (“to lend something to someone”). In Spanish, the preposition a introduces the indirect object (the person who receives the action), so it’s required when saying whom you’re lending the dictionary to.

Why do we say mi diccionario instead of el diccionario?

You use mi diccionario because you want to show possession—it’s your dictionary. If you just said Voy a prestar el diccionario, it might be understood that you’re lending some dictionary, but it doesn’t specify that it’s yours. The possessive pronoun mi clarifies ownership.