Breakdown of Ayudamos a mi madre.
mi
my
la madre
the mother
a
personal a (marks a person object)
ayudar
to help
Questions & Answers about Ayudamos a mi madre.
Why is there an a before mi madre?
In Spanish, when the direct object (the person receiving the action) is a specific person, you must put the word a in front of it. This is called the personal a. It doesn't translate to English, but it is required!
Where is the word for "we" in this sentence?
The "we" is built right into the verb. The -amos ending on ayudamos already means "we help". You could say Nosotros ayudamos, but Spanish speakers usually drop the nosotros because the verb ending makes the subject obvious.
Why does it say mi madre (my mother) instead of nuestra madre (our mother) if "we" are doing the helping?
It depends on the situation! You could be helping your mother alongside your friends or your spouse, meaning she is only "my mother" to you. If you were talking to your siblings about helping your shared mother, you would say nuestra madre instead.
How would I ask "Who do we help?" using the question words from this lesson?
You would use the question word quién (who). But because of the personal a rule, you have to put the a before the question word when asking about a person. So, "Who do we help?" becomes ¿A quién ayudamos?
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