El amo cuida al perro.

Because Spanish often uses the personal a before a direct object that is a specific person, and it can also be used with specific animals, especially pets.

So in El amo cuida al perro, el perro is the direct object, and because it is a specific dog, Spanish uses a:

• cuida al perro = looks after the dog

Without it, the sentence would sound unnatural in this context.

Because a + el contracts to al in Spanish.

So:

• a + el perro → al perro

This contraction is normally required.

A useful comparison:

• Voy al parque.
• Mira al niño.

One important exception: if the article is part of a proper name, it does not contract.

• a El Escorial → not al Escorial

But here it is just the normal article el, so al is correct.

That is a very common learner question. The personal a is mainly taught for people, but it is also often used with:

• pets
• animals treated as individuals
• personified or emotionally important animals

In El amo cuida al perro, the dog is clearly a specific animal, probably a pet, so al perro sounds natural.

Compare:

• Cuida al perro. = He looks after the dog.
• Cuida perros. = He looks after dogs / dogs in general.

The first is specific; the second is more general.

Amo traditionally means master or owner, especially in a relationship where one being is under another's authority.

In modern everyday Spanish, especially in neutral conversation, dueño is often more common for owner:

• El dueño cuida al perro.

That may sound more natural in many situations.

Amo can sound:

• a bit old-fashioned
• literary
• more hierarchical, like master

So the sentence is grammatical, but depending on context, many speakers might prefer dueño.

Cuida is the:

• third person singular
• present tense
• of the verb cuidar = to care for / to look after / to take care of

So it can mean:

• he looks after
• she looks after
• it looks after
• you look after (formal usted)

In this sentence, because the subject is El amo, it means:

• The master/owner looks after...

A few forms of cuidar:

• yo cuido = I look after
• tú cuidas = you look after
• él/ella/usted cuida = he/she/you(formal) looks after
• nosotros cuidamos = we look after
• vosotros cuidáis = you all look after
• ellos/ellas/ustedes cuidan = they/you all look after

There are two main clues:

1. Word order
   Spanish often puts the subject before the verb:

   • El amo = the subject
   • cuida = the verb

2. The personal a

   • al perro marks the direct object

So the structure is:

• El amo = the owner/master
• cuida = looks after
• al perro = the dog

That tells you that the owner is caring for the dog, not the other way around.

Because both are referring to specific, identifiable nouns:

• El amo = the specific owner/master
• el perro = the specific dog

Spanish uses the definite article el / la / los / las more often than English does. In this sentence, English also uses the, so the match is quite straightforward.

If the sentence were less specific, you might see:

• Un amo cuida a un perro. = An owner looks after a dog.

But here it is the owner and the dog.

In standard Spanish, that would normally be considered incorrect or at least unnatural here.

With a specific animal like the dog, Spanish normally uses the personal a:

• El amo cuida al perro. ✅

Without a, it sounds wrong to most learners' target Spanish, especially in a basic sentence like this.

Yes. Spanish word order is more flexible than English, although the original order is the most neutral.

Possible versions include:

• El amo cuida al perro. = neutral
• Al perro lo cuida el amo. = emphasizes the dog
• Cuida al perro el amo. = possible, but less neutral and more context-dependent

In beginner Spanish, it is best to learn the basic pattern first:

• Subject + verb + object

So El amo cuida al perro is a very standard model sentence.

No. In this meaning, cuidar usually takes a direct object in Spanish.

English often says:

• care for
• look after
• take care of

But Spanish simply says:

• cuidar + object

So:

• cuidar al perro
• literally: to care the dog
• natural English: to look after the dog

This is a good example of where Spanish and English use different structures.