In the latest episode of the Real Fast Spanish tips podcast, we will be looking at another Spanish word that can cause confusion for English students.
Is the letter “a” is a letter or a word? It’s is up for debate. But debates aside, in today’s episode of the Real Fast Spanish tips podcast we will discuss how to use “a” in a Spanish sentence and what some of the common pitfalls are.
Mentioned in the episode
- Previous episode number 7 – How to use verbs like gustar to express your ideas
- Previous episode number 15 – A hack for the past
- Previous episode number 17 – A hack for the future
Examples from today’s episode:
I go to Madrid – Voy a Madrid
I’m going to go to Madrid – Voy a ir a Madrid
I arrived at the party – He llegado a la fiesta
At 7 o’clock – A las siete
At 7 o’clock we are going to eat – A las siete vamos a comer
I work forty hours a week – Trabajo cuarenta horas a la semana
We go to the movies two times a month – Vamos al cine dos veces al mes
I write a letter by hand – Escribo una carta a mano
I like to drink – Me gusta beber
He/She likes to drink – Le gusta beber mucho
He likes to drink a lot – A él le gusta beber mucho
She likes to drink a lot – A ella le gusta beber mucho
Maria likes to work during the morning – A Maria le gusta trabajar por la mañana
The woman cares for her dog – La mujer cuida a su perro
The woman cares for her horse – La mujer cuida de su caballo
I want to learn Spanish – Quiero aprender español
Me as well – Yo también
I like to eat late – Me gusta comer tarde
To me as well – A mi también
Maybe / perhaps – A lo mejor
Perhaps it is going to rain today – A lo mejor va a llover hoy
This episode’s quote:
“A lo mejor escribir no sea más que una de las formas de organizar la locura.” – Isidoro Blaisten
How else could you use “a” in a sentence?
Podcast: Play in new window
Excellent topic! I had a few questions about some sentences I read online, if you don’t mind: ¿A cuál te gustaría ir? Is the “a” necessary because of “ir” or because it is a “gustar” question? Also with “A sabes que” and “A que no sabes a quién vi hoy?” Can you explain why “a” is necessary in these two questions please? Thanks so much!
The woman cares for her dog – La mujer cuida a su perro
The woman cares for her horse – La mujer cuida de su caballo
Is there any logic to this; can you predict what will be used for other animals?
Hola Nick, this is a tricky question as there are a few things happening here. Firstly, we can use “cuidar” with or without the preposition “de”:
– I’m looking after my parents house while they are on vacation = Cuido la casa de mis padres mientras están de vacaciones.
– I’m looking after my parents house while they are on vacation = Cuido de la casa de mis padres mientras están de vacaciones.
Then in the situation where we look after a person we can say:
– I’m looking after my brother = Cuido a mi hermano
– I’m looking after my brother = Cuido de mi hermano
In this situation we need the personal “a” when using people we know as the direct object of the sentence. But, if we choose to use the “de”, there would be no “a” as we don’t want to combine two prepositions in a row like this.
Lastly, with “dogs”, they are often treated like a member of the family so some natives might say:
– I’m looking after our dog = Cuido a nuestro perro.
– I’m looking after a dog = Cuido un perro.
In the second case, it’s a random dog, so we don’t need the personal “a”.