Español — Personal a
When the direct object of a verb is a specific person (or a personified being), Spanish marks it with the preposition a: Veo a Ana. With impersonal or non-specific objects the a disappears: Veo una casa.
How it works
Use a directly before a direct object that is a specific person, a personified being, a pet, or a personal pronoun: Busco a mi hermano; Quiero a mi perro; Conozco a alguien. The a has no meaning of its own — it is a grammatical marker, not a translation of "to".
Examples
| Sentence | Reason |
|---|---|
| Veo a Ana. | a — a specific, named person |
| Busco a mi hermano. | a — a known, identified person |
| Conozco a alguien. | a — personal pronoun referring to people |
| Quiero a mi perro. | a — a pet, treated as a personified being |
| Veo una casa. | no a — a thing, not a person |
| Busco un médico. | no a — any doctor, non-specific person |
| Tengo dos hermanos. | no a — tener normally drops the personal a |
Good to know
Do not confuse the personal a with the verb: it is Veo a Ana, never "Veo Ana". Note that after tener the a is normally dropped (Tengo dos hermanos), and that its presence can even change meaning: Busco a un médico points to one particular doctor, while Busco un médico means any doctor at all.