Llamé al fabricante.

The accent mark shows both pronunciation and tense/person.

• llamé = I called (first person singular, preterite)
• Without the accent, llame is a different form, usually:
  • the present subjunctive: que yo llame
  • or the formal command: llame usted

The accent tells you the stress goes on the last syllable: lla-MÉ.

It is the preterite tense, specifically:

• first person singular
• from the verb llamar
• llamé = I called

The Spanish preterite is commonly used for a completed action in the past.

For example:

• Llamé al fabricante ayer. = I called the manufacturer yesterday.
• Llamé y nadie respondió. = I called and nobody answered.

Because a + el contracts to al in Spanish.

So:

• a + el fabricante → al fabricante

This contraction is required in normal Spanish.

Compare:

• Voy al hotel.
• Escribí al director.
• Llamé al fabricante.

One important exception: if el is part of a proper name, you do not contract it.

For example:

• Voy a El Escorial.

But here el fabricante is not a proper name, so al is correct.

Because llamar normally takes a before the person or entity you call:

• llamar a alguien
• llamar a una empresa
• llamar al médico
• llamar a María

So in Llamé al fabricante, the a is the normal preposition used with llamar when you mean to call someone / to phone someone.

English does not use a preposition here, but Spanish does.

It is the direct object.

Even though you see a, that does not make it an indirect object. In Spanish, some direct objects appear with a, especially with people and other specific or person-like referents, and also with verbs like llamar.

You can test this with pronouns:

• Llamé al fabricante.
• Lo llamé. = I called him/it.

If it were an indirect object, you would expect le, not lo.

Spanish usually needs an article or determiner before a noun in this kind of sentence.

So you would say:

• Llamé al fabricante. = I called the manufacturer.
• Llamé a un fabricante. = I called a manufacturer.

But Llamé a fabricante is not natural Spanish.

The article el tells us you mean a specific manufacturer, one that is known from the context.

It can refer to either, depending on context.

• a person who manufactures something
• a manufacturer/company/brand

So Llamé al fabricante could mean you called:

• the person responsible for making it
• the manufacturing company
• the brand behind the product

Spanish often uses the same noun for both the person and the company if the context is clear.

Yes, if the manufacturer is female and you want to refer to her specifically as a woman, la fabricante is possible.

So:

• Llamé al fabricante. = I called the male manufacturer / the manufacturer
• Llamé a la fabricante. = I called the female manufacturer

That said, job titles and role nouns can vary in real usage. In many contexts, fabricante may still be used in a more general way, but la fabricante is grammatically fine when referring to a woman.

No. Llamar has several meanings, depending on context.

Common ones include:

• to call / phone
• to call out
• to name

Examples:

• Llamé al fabricante. = I called/phoned the manufacturer.
• Llamó a su perro. = He/She called his/her dog.
• Se llama Ana. = Her name is Ana.

In your sentence, the meaning is clearly to phone/call.

A common Spain pronunciation would be roughly:

• ya-ME al fa-bri-CAN-te

A few useful points:

• ll is usually pronounced like y for most speakers
• llamé is stressed on the last syllable: -mé
• fabricante is stressed on can: fa-bri-CAN-te
• al is short and unstressed

In parts of Spain, pronunciation of ll can vary, but pronouncing it like English y is a good standard choice for learners.

Yes. That is another very common way to talk about a past action.

• Llamé al fabricante = simple past / I called
• He llamado al fabricante = I have called the manufacturer

In Spain, he llamado is especially common for actions connected to the recent past or to the present moment, while llamé is a completed past event.

The exact choice depends on context and regional habits, but both are correct Spanish.

The infinitive is llamar.

It is a regular -ar verb in the preterite. The first person singular ending is -é:

• llamar → remove -ar
• stem: llam-
• add -é
• llamé

Other preterite forms are:

• llamé = I called
• llamaste = you called
• llamó = he/she/it called
• llamamos = we called
• llamasteis = you all called
• llamaron = they called

Yes, but Llamé al fabricante is the most neutral and natural order.

Spanish can change word order for emphasis, for example:

• Al fabricante llamé.

This sounds marked or emphatic, as if contrasting with someone else you did not call.

For normal everyday speech, stick with:

• Llamé al fabricante.