Learn Spanish (Spain): Quiero ver al médico.

Quiero ver al médico.

I want to see the doctor.

Breakdown of Quiero ver al médico.

el médico

the doctor

ver

to see; to watch (TV, a film)

personal a + the (m)

querer

to want; to love (a person)

Questions & Answers about Quiero ver al médico.

Why is there an al before médico instead of just el?

This happens because of a rule called the personal a. In Spanish, when the target of an action is a person (like a doctor), you must put the word a in front of them. Because the doctor is el médico, the a and el combine into the single word al.

Does the verb ver always need an a after it?

No! You only use the a here because you want to see a person. If you wanted to see an object or a place, you would leave the a out. For example, to say "I want to see the car", you just say Quiero ver el coche.

Why is ver left in its full dictionary form rather than being conjugated?

When two verbs are used together to express a single idea, like "want to see", you only conjugate the first one. Because Quiero is already conjugated to mean "I want", the second verb, ver, stays in its basic infinitive form.

The English translation says "I want", but where is the word for "I"?

In Spanish, the word for "I" (yo) is usually dropped because the verb itself tells you who is doing the action. The -o ending on Quiero already means "I want", so adding yo isn't necessary.