FHUHS Spanish

The Personal ‘A’

In Spanish, whenever the direct object of a verb is a person, the direct object must be preceded by a. This marking is called the personal a

Because the word order is somewhat more flexible in Spanish than in English, it’s possible for two nouns to appear back to back in a sentence, one serving as the subject of the verb, and the other as the direct object of the verb. Without some way to distinguish between the subject and the direct object, confusion could result. The more strict word order in English makes this clear:

• Does John see Mary? (John is the subject, and Mary is the direct object.)

In Spanish, with its more flexible word order, the direct object is marked with the personal a to avoid confusion. Thus, all three of the following sentences are equivalents (María is the direct object, marked by the personal a, Juan is the subject):

• ¿Ve Juan a María?
• ¿A María ve Juan?
• ¿Ve a María Juan?