1. The personal “a” and “a” and “de” contractions

2. Elements of Spanish Sentences
Spanish sentences, like English ones contain a subject, a verb and an object.
Yo escucho la radio
S V O
Mi amigo come papas fritas.
Tomamos vino por la mañana.

3. La “a” personal
The personal “a” is used when the object of a Spanish sentence is a person or persons. There is no equivalent in English.
Llamo a mi amiga.
Invitamos a Celia a la fiesta.
Juana escribe una carta a Juanita.

4. Common Verbs where people can be objects.
Llamar To call (someone)
Llevar To take (someone somewhere)
Invitar To invite (someone)
Escribir To write (someone something)
Conocer To know (someone)
Ver To see (someone)
Amar To love (someone)
Hablar To talk (to someone)*
Mandar/enviar To send (someone something)
Dar To give (someone something)

5. The personal a is not used…
When the object of the sentence is not human…
Karla lleva los libros a la biblioteca
Karla is taking the books to the library.
Karla lleva a su hermana a la biblioteca.
Karla is taking her sister to the library.

6. Neither is it used with the verb “tener”
Tengo muchos amigos.
I have many friends
Llevo a mis amigos al cine.
I take my friends to the movies.
Juan tiene cinco novias.
Juan has five girlfriends.
Juan invita a sus novias a comer en McDonalds porque no tiene dinero
Juan invites his girlfriends to eat at McDonalds because he doesn’t have money.

7. If the objects of the sentence include several individual people, the “a” is placed before each one.
Juan invita a María, a Claudia, a Sofía, a Isabel y a Rosita Chiquita a comer en McDonalds.
Juan invites Maria, Claudia, Sophia, Isabel and Rosita to eat at Mc Donalds.

8. A, De and Contractions A
“A” can be used either as the “personal a” or the preposition “to” or “towards”.
When “a” comes before the article “el”, they contract to form “al”.
Llamo al (a + el) doctor.
I’m calling the doctor
Llevo a mi amiga al cine.
I´m taking my friend to the movies..

9. “De” can be used as the possessive “de” or the preposition “of/from”
Similarly when “de” comes before the article “el” they contract to form “del”
Vengo del club
I’m coming from the club.
La esposa del profesor es muy guapa.
The professor’s wife is very beautiful

10. De and A do not contract with la, los or las.
Conozco a la mamá de mi amigo.
I know my mom´s friend.
Vamos a los juegos olímpicos.
We´re going to the Olympic Games.
De and A also do not contract with the subject pronoun él:
Recibo una carta de él