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Spanish (Latin America)

In the last lesson you saw *conozco **a** un actor*. That little **a** is the "personal a" — one of the most characteristic features of Spanish.

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### People take *a*

When the direct object of a verb is a *specific person*, Spanish puts **a** right before it. English translates it with nothing at all — it has no meaning of its own; it simply marks that the object is a person.

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### Things do not take *a*

The same verb drops the *a* when its object is a thing. Compare:

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### *a + el* becomes *al*

The contraction you learned with *al* and *del* applies to the personal *a* too:

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### Pets count as people

Animals you care about also take the personal *a*:

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### Asking "whom?"

Because the person is marked with *a*, the question word carries it along: **¿A quién...?**

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The personal a (veo a mi amiga)

adjective

adverb

auxiliary verb

conjunction

determiner

expression

interjection

noun

numeral

prep

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Subject pronouns and the verb to be (yo soy)

Noun gender and definite articles (el, la)

Basic sentences and negation (no)

Indefinite articles (un, una)

Formal and informal you (tú vs. usted)

Plural pronouns and the verb to be (somos, son)

Making nouns plural (-s, -es)

Plural articles (los, las, unos, unas)

Noun gender exceptions

Adjective agreement

Invariable adjectives

State and location (estar)

Ser vs. estar

There is / there are (hay)

Hay vs. estar

To have (tener)

Possession (de)

Possessive adjectives (mi, tu, su)

Regular -ar verbs

Yes/No questions

What and who (qué, quién)

Regular -er verbs

Regular -ir verbs

Asking where (dónde, adónde)

How, when, and why (cómo, cuándo, por qué)

How much and how many (cuánto)

Days of the week

Going to a place (ir a)

Preposition contractions (al, del)

In and by (en)

With me and with you (conmigo, contigo)

Prepositional pronouns (mí, ti)

Conjunctions (y, o, pero)

Giving reasons (porque)

Stem-changing verbs (e to ie)

Stem-changing verbs (o to ue)

Stem-changing verbs (e to i)

Irregular yo forms (hago, salgo)

To know (saber vs. conocer)

Weather expressions (hace, está)

Desires and plans (querer)

Ability and requests (poder)

Obligations (tener que)

Expressing likes (me gusta)

Plural likes (me gustan)

Verbs like gustar (encantar, doler)

Very vs. a lot (muy, mucho)

Numbers 0 to 15 (cero, uno, dos…)

Numbers 16 to 31 (dieciséis, veinte…)

Numbers 30 to 1000 (treinta, cien, mil)

Months of the year (enero, febrero, marzo)

Seasons and dates (el dos de mayo)

Telling time (es la..., son las...)

Ordinal numbers 1st to 10th (primero, segundo, tercero)

Reflexive pronouns and verbs (me, te, se, nos)

Direct object pronouns (lo, la, los, las)

The near future (ir a)

The present continuous (estar + -ando, -iendo)

Near demonstrative adjectives (este, esta, estos, estas)

Medium demonstrative adjectives (ese, esa, esos, esas)

Comparatives of inequality (más / menos ... que)

Comparatives of equality (tan ... como)

Indefinite and negative pronouns (algo, nada, alguien, nadie)

Affirmative commands

Far demonstratives (aquel, aquella)

Possessive pronouns (el mío, el tuyo)

Shortened indefinite adjectives (algún, ningún)

Adverbs of quantity (demasiado, bastante)

Adverbs of frequency (a menudo, a veces)

Adverb formation (-mente)

Exclamations (¡Qué...!)

Irregular comparatives (mejor, peor, mayor, menor)

Relative superlatives (el más... de)

Adjective intensification (-ísimo)

Indirect object pronouns

Pronoun placement with infinitives

Double object pronouns (me lo, te la)

The 'se lo' rule (se lo, se la)

Impersonal statements (se)

Impersonal obligation (hay que)

Personal obligation (deber)

Starting actions (empezar a)

Finishing and quitting actions (terminar de, dejar de)

Repeating actions (volver a)

Continuing actions (seguir + gerundio)

Question	Answer
personal 'a' (marks a human direct object)	a
I see my friend in the park.	Veo a mi amiga en el parque.
I see my friend's house.	Veo la casa de mi amiga.
The boy helps his grandmother.	El niño ayuda a su abuela.
I know my wife's family.	Conozco a la familia de mi esposa.
I visit my grandparents on Sunday.	Visito a mis abuelos el domingo.
Are you inviting your brother to the party?	¿Invitas a tu hermano a la fiesta?
I listen to the famous singer.	Escucho al cantante famoso.
I listen to the new song.	Escucho la canción nueva.
The girl looks at her cat.	La niña mira a su gato.
Whom are you helping today?	¿A quién ayudas hoy?
I need my mom.	Necesito a mi mamá.
I need the phone.	Necesito el teléfono.