2. Spanish 1 – 2.3 The Personal “a”

3. Personal a Personal a does not exist in English. It is used in Spanish because it is grammatically correct. The hardest part is remembering to use a because it does not occur in translation.

4. Personal a Personal a is used in front of any direct object that is a person or a pet. Example: I read the book. – Direct object is book, is it a person or pet? – NO! Yo leo el libro. Example: I see María. – Direct object is María, is it a person or pet? – YES! Yo veo a María. personal a

5. The Personal “a” Personal a will never follow any forms of tener, estar and ser. If it has any of these conjugated, there will not be a personal a.

6. The Personal “a” Sometimes we need to say the word “the” after the personal “a”. Example: I see the woman = Yo veo a la mujer. There are 4 ways to do this - use: 1.a la – if the person is feminine singular. 2.al – if the person is masculine singular (we cannot use a el) 3.a las – if the person is feminine plural. 4.a los – if the person is masculine plural.

7. The Personal “a” What’s wrong with the following sentence? Yo visito a el agente. Yo visito al agente.

8. Práctica - Read the sentence and decide if a “personal a” is necessary. If it is, please write it in. 1. Veo ____ la televisión. 2. Busco ___ mis hermanos. 3. ¿Tienes ____ muchos primos? 4. Ella invita ____ Juan a la fiesta. Veo la televisión. Busco a mis hermanos. ¿Tienes muchos primos? Ella invita a Juan a la fiesta.