Learn Spanish (Spain): Es a mamá a quien te vas a chivar. - It is mom who you are going to snitch to.

The verb chivarse (to snitch) takes the preposition a to show who you are snitching to. In Spanish cleft sentences, when the emphasized part needs a preposition, you usually have to use it twice: once before the focus (a mamá) and again before the relative word (a quien). It is like saying 'It is to mom to whom you are going to snitch.'

Why do we use 'te' before 'vas a chivar'?

The verb used here is chivarse, which is very common in Spain to mean to snitch or tattle. It is a pronominal verb, meaning it requires a pronoun that matches the subject. Since the person doing the snitching is 'you', we use the pronoun te.

Can I attach the 'te' to the end of the verb instead?

Yes! When you have a conjugated verb followed by an infinitive (like vas a chivar), you can either put the pronoun before the conjugated verb (te vas a chivar) or attach it directly to the infinitive (vas a chivarte). Both are perfectly correct.

Could I say 'a la que' instead of 'a quien'?

Absolutely. In these types of emphasis sentences, you can often swap quien for el que or la que when referring to a person. Saying Es a mamá a la que te vas a chivar sounds very natural in everyday Spanish.