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Tenemos que cuidar a nuestro abuelo.

Tenemos que cuidar a nuestro abuelo.
We have to take care of our grandfather.
From Lesson 58:Obligation (tener que)·Spanish (Spain)

Questions & Answers about Tenemos que cuidar a nuestro abuelo.

Why do we use que after tenemos here?
When you want to say you 'have to' do something in Spanish, you use the verb tener plus que plus an infinitive verb (an action word ending in -ar, -er, or -ir). Here, tenemos que cuidar means we have to take care of. Without que, tenemos just means we own or possess something.
Why is there an a before nuestro abuelo?
This is a very common Spanish rule called the personal a. Whenever a specific person is the object of an action (the one having the action done to them), you must put an a right before them. Since we are taking care of our grandfather (a person), we need this a.
The translation says 'take care of', but where is the word for 'of' in the Spanish sentence?
The Spanish verb cuidar covers the whole meaning of 'to take care of' or 'to look after'. You do not need an extra word for 'of' in Spanish. You just use cuidar followed by the person or thing you are caring for.
Since 'we' means multiple people, shouldn't it be nuestros instead of nuestro?
No, because possessive words like nuestro (our) change to match the person or thing being talked about, not the owners. Since abuelo (grandfather) is one single man, we use the masculine singular form: nuestro. If we were taking care of our grandparents, it would change to match them: nuestros abuelos.

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