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Hoy visito a mi tío y a mi tía.

Hoy visito a mi tío y a mi tía.
Today I am visiting my uncle and my aunt.
From Lesson 46:The family and the personal 'a' (a mi tío, a mi prima)·Spanish (Spain)

Questions & Answers about Hoy visito a mi tío y a mi tía.

Why do we need the word a before mi tío and mi tía?
This is the 'personal a' from our current lesson. In Spanish, when the direct object (the person receiving the action of the verb) is a specific person, you must put an a right before them. Because you are visiting two people, you need to use the personal a before each one. English doesn't have a direct translation for this little word!
Does the personal a always have to go right after the verb?
Not exactly! The personal a has to go right before the person it refers to, along with any words attached to them, like mi (my). In this sentence, the first a comes right after the verb visito, but the second a comes after y (and) because it needs to sit right in front of mi tía.
Why is visito translated as 'I am visiting' instead of 'I visit'?
The Spanish simple present tense (visito) is very flexible. It can mean 'I visit' (a habit), 'I do visit' (emphasis), or 'I am visiting' (happening right now or very soon). Because the sentence starts with Hoy (Today), the English translation 'I am visiting' sounds much more natural for a plan happening today.
Could I shorten this to just say 'my aunt and uncle' as one group?
Yes! In Spanish, you can use the plural masculine form of a family word to group a mixed-gender pair. You could easily say Hoy visito a mis tíos. Notice that tíos can mean 'uncles' but also 'uncle and aunt', and remember that you would need to change mi to its plural form mis.

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