Learn Spanish (Spain): ¿Conoces a un hombre simpático?

In Spanish, when the action of a verb is directed at a person, we must put the word a right before them. This is called the "personal a". Since un hombre (a man) is a person, we say conoces a. It does not translate to anything in English!

Why use conoces for "do you know" instead of sabes?

Spanish has two verbs for "to know". We use conocer (conjugated here as conoces for "you") when talking about being familiar with people, places, or things. We use saber for knowing facts or information. Since we are asking about knowing a person, conoces is the correct verb.

Why is the word order hombre simpático?

In Spanish, descriptive adjectives like simpático (nice or friendly) almost always come right after the noun they describe. So "a nice man" becomes un hombre simpático.

This lesson is about question words. Why doesn't this sentence have one, or a word for "Do"?

This is a yes/no question, so it doesn't need a question word like qué (what) or dónde (where). Spanish also never uses helper words like "do" or "does" to form questions. You just take the normal statement, add the inverted question mark (¿) at the start, and raise your voice at the end when speaking!

Where is the word for "you" in this sentence?