Whenever a person is the object of a sentence in Spanish, the word a (which can literally mean "to," "at," etc., depending upon the context) must be included prior to the person. This is called the "personal a" in English and the "a personal" in Spanish.
In both English and Spanish, the subject of a sentence is the person or thing that performs an action and the object is the person or thing that receives it. For example, in the English sentence "Edison ate cake," "Edison" is the subject and "cake" is the object. And in the sentence "Gonzalo hugged Eva," "Gonzalo" is the subject while "Eva" is the object. So, while the translation for the first example, Edison comió torta, would not require the personal a, the second one would since Eva is a person: Gonzalo abrazó a Eva.
Now that we understand a bit how the personal a works, let's see a few examples where the same verb in the same tense either has a personal a or doesn't, depending upon whether the object of the sentence is a person. You will note that there is no direct translation for the personal a in the English sentences.
Pero yo vi sombras.
But I saw shadows.
Caption 26, Tu Voz Estéreo Feliz Navidad - Part 4
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Yo vi a Pablo Escobar,
I saw Pablo Escobar
Caption 28, Los Tiempos de Pablo Escobar Capítulo 2 - Part 8
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me di cuenta que no entendía todos los conceptos
I realized that I didn't understand all the concepts
Caption 73, Guillermo el chamán La tecnología maya
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De verdad, en ese momento no entendía a las niñas.
Really, at that moment, I didn't understand girls.
Caption 53, Los Años Maravillosos Capítulo 11 - Part 6
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Conocí las islas Barú de... de Colombia
I visited the Barú Islands in... in Colombia
Caption 89, Cleer y Lida Juego de preguntas y respuestas - Part 2
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Conocí a María ayer.
I met María yesterday.
Caption 22, Lecciones con Carolina Saber y conocer
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When a pronoun like alguien (someone), nadie (no one/anyone), quien, alguno/a(s) (some/someobody/one), or ninguno/a(s) (none/no one/any) replace a person or people as the direct object in a sentence, the personal a is used as well:
No queremos alarmar a nadie.
We don't want to alarm anyone.
Caption 52, Confidencial: El rey de la estafa Capítulo 5 - Part 8
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Perdón, eh, ¿busca a alguien?
Excuse me, um, are you looking for someone?
Caption 1, Muñeca Brava 8 Trampas - Part 10
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Todos los años, tengo que reñir a alguno.
Every year, I have to tell someone off.
Caption 46, 75 minutos Del campo a la mesa - Part 10
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The personal a is also used with animals or inanimate objects when the person speaking about them "personifies" them or has affection for them. One example is pets:
¿Federico te regaló a Zazén?
Did Federico give you Zazen?
Caption 9, Tu Voz Estéreo Laura - Part 6
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Generalmente acá se ven elefantes marinos
Generally, here you see elephant seals
Caption 37, Perdidos en la Patagonia La Punta Cantor
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Me fascina, quiero ayudar a mi país,
I love it. I want to help my country
Caption 24, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana Manuel Orozco Sánchez - Part 1
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Yo amo a mi carro. -Se nota. -Único, bello.
I love my car. -You can see that. -Unique, beautiful.
Caption 97, Encuentro Volkswagen en Adícora Escarabajos en la playa - Part 2
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This is definitely the exception to the rule, though. In most cases, the personal a would not be used with such inanimate objects:
Vaya a lavar el auto, por favor!
Go to wash the car, please!
Caption 31, Muñeca Brava 30 Revelaciones - Part 5
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The personal a is not generally used with the verb tener:
¿Tienes hijos? -No.
Do you have children? -No.
Caption 87, Adícora, Venezuela El tatuaje de Rosana
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However, there are a few exceptions to this rule. One is when one has an emotional or close relationship with someone:
Tengo a Alejandrita que tiene diez y James que tiene diecinueve.
I have little Alejandra who is ten and James who is nineteen.
Captions 59-60, 75 minutos Gangas para ricos - Part 20
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Another is when someone is physically holding someone:
Él tenía a mi hija en sus brazos.
He had my daughter in his arms.
A third is when one "has" someone "somewhere":
Teníamos a los gemelos en una clase de baile.
We had the twins in a dance class.
The personal a is not used with the verb haber, either:
hay muchas personas que se oponen a que haya paz en Colombia.
there are many people who are opposed to there being peace in Colombia.
Caption 32, Los Años Maravillosos Capítulo 9 - Part 1
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había una mujer que podía ser la protagonista de mi canción.
there was a woman who could be the main character of my song.
Captions 48-49, Luis Guitarra Historia de Lucía - Part 2
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In conclusion, although the personal a in Spanish can be a bit counterintuitive for English speakers since we don't have anything like it, we hope that this lesson has helped you to understand what it is and when it is and isn't used, and... don't forget to leave us your suggestions and comments,
Let's talk about gender. How do you know if a word like leche (milk) or mapa (map) is feminine or masculine? Let's explore some rules (and exceptions) that will help you to identify the gender of inanimate objects in Spanish. Please, keep in mind that we will use the definite articles el (masculine) and la (feminine) in order to better recognize the gender of the nouns we are mentioning throughout this article.
Generally speaking, nouns that end in -o are masculine while those ending in -a are feminine. Let's see some of the most common objects that follow this rule:
El libro (the book)
El baño (the bathroom)
El piano (the piano)
El diccionario (the dictionary)
El asiento (the seat)
La casa (the house)
La cama (the bed)
La lámpara (the lamp)
La cocina (the kitchen)
La caja (the box)
However, there are some exceptions to this rule. Let's look at some of the most common ones.
La mano derecha se colocará en esta posición llamada acorde de LA mayor.
The right hand will be placed in this position called A major chord.
Caption 1, Curso de guitarra - Para los que empiezan desde cero
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Es la foto de mis abuelos, es mi familia.
It's a photo of my grandparents. It's my family.
Caption 5, Yago - 3 La foto
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Y bueno, el día llega a su fin, y llegas a casa a relajarte.
And well, the day comes to an end, and you get home to relax.
Captions 80-81, Natalia de Ecuador - Vocabulario de prendas de vestir
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Por ejemplo: problema, el problema, mapa, el mapa.
For example: problem, the problem, map, the map.
Captions 16-17, Isabel - El Género Gramatical - Masculino y Femenino
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¿Y pudieron conocer el planeta de su amigo?
And were you able to see your friend's planet?
Caption 31, Guillermina y Candelario - Un marciano en la playa
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Cuando utilizamos el idioma español.
When we use the Spanish language.
Entonces, vamos a hablar entonces ya.
So, then we are going to talk now.
Captions 5-6, Lecciones con Carolina - Errores comunes
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There is no particular rule for this group. Some of the nouns here are masculine while others are feminine. Some examples:
Eh... los ordeñadores pasan a
Um... the milkers go on to
pesar la leche para ver la cantidad que produce cada una.
weigh the milk to check the quantity that each one produces.
Captions 54-55, Gustavo Adolfo - Su finca lechera
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Se arma el árbol, el pesebre, los niños llevan sus instrumentos musicales.
The tree is set up, the manger, the children carry their musical instruments.
Caption 40, Lida y Cleer - Buñuelos
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La India Catalina era la líder de la tribu indígena.
India Catalina was the leader of the indigenous tribe.
Caption 26, Viajando en Colombia - Cartagena en coche
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Let's look at some examples in this group:
Me relajo y contemplo el paisaje.
I relax and I look at the landscape.
Captions 30-31, Natalia de Ecuador - Los adverbios de orden
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Cuando me llega el dolor yo me arreglo
When pain hits me I manage
Caption 6, Jorge Celedón, Vicentico - Si Me Dejan
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¿Puedo ver el menú por favor?
Can I see the menu please?
Caption 12, Cata y Cleer - En el restaurante
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La ciencia nunca falla, caballero.
Science never fails, sir.
Caption 39, Los casos de Yabla - Problemas de convivencia
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La acentuación es la acción y efecto de acentuar.
Accentuation is the action and effect of accenting.
Caption 13, Carlos explica - Acentuación Cap. 1: Conceptos básicos
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Mi hijo quiere estudiar inglés o japonés el próximo año en la universidad.
My son wants to study English or Japanese next year in college.
Caption 25, Lecciones con Carolina - Conjunciones disyuntivas
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Tenemos el océano Pacífico y el océano Atlántico.
We have the Pacific ocean and the Atlantic ocean.
Caption 24, Melany de Guatemala - País de la Eterna Primavera
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El martes, también salí por la noche.
On Tuesday, I also went out at night.
Caption 11, El Aula Azul - La Doctora Consejos: El pasado
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Y que el cien por cien de las ganancias pues iban destinadas a la coalición española.
And one hundred percent of the profits were going to the Spanish coalition.
Caption 45, David Bisbal - Haciendo Premonición Live
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El azul, donde echamos el papel, cartón, revistas.
The blue one, where we throw away paper, cardboard, magazines.
Caption 4, Rosa - Reciclar
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Eh... Les recomiendo que vengan a visitar las islas Galápagos.
Um... I recommend that you come to visit the Galapagos Islands.
Caption 1, Galápagos - Una visita a este archipiélago
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Que queda ubicado sobre la Avenida Jiménez.
Which is located on Jiminez Avenue.
Caption 47, Bogotá - Chorro de Quevedo
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Me gustaría referirme a la pronunciación de dos letras,
I'd like to refer to the pronunciation of two letters,
la "elle" y la "ye".
the "double l" and the "y."
Captions 6-8, Carlos y Cyndy - La pronunciación en Colombia y Argentina
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There are some inanimate nouns that can be either feminine or masculine, which means both forms are accepted.
El mar / la mar (the sea). For this noun, the masculine form is used more often.
El maratón / la maratón (the marathon). Both forms are accepted.
El arte / las artes (the arts). Usually the masculine form is used in the singular and the feminine one in the plural.
El sartén / la sartén (the pan). While the masculine noun is the most frequently used, some countries in the Americas tend to favor the feminine form.
There are various words that are almost identical but they differ in meaning. Very often, indeed, you can fully grasp that difference by bringing the gender variable into it. Let's see some examples:
El cuchillo (the knife) / La cuchilla (the blade)
El barco (the ship) / La barca (the boat)
El bolso (the purse) / La bolsa (the bag)
El puerto (the port) / la puerta (the door)
El cuadro (the painting) / La cuadra (the block)
El manzano (the apple tree) / La manzana (the apple)
That's it for today. We hope you find this lesson useful and we invite you to send us your comments and suggestions.
¡Hasta la próxima!
Do you know the days of the week in Spanish? Do words like lunes or domingo sound familiar to you? In this lesson, we will review the days of the week in Spanish in three different ways. First, you can listen to some random sentences containing the days of the week. Then, you will have the chance to listen to a short clip that shows you how to pronounce each day of the week. Finally, we will leave you with a list of the days of the week in Spanish and English. We hope this repetition helps you to memorize the names of the 7 days of the week in Spanish.
We use the days of the week all the time! The following sentences will help us to get familiar with the sound of the days of the week.
El lunes, por ejemplo, fui a trabajar.
On Monday for example, I went to work.
Caption 6, El Aula Azul - La Doctora Consejos: El pasado
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Los martes, además, tenemos las "Tardes de Intercambio".
On Tuesdays, additionally, we have the "Exchange Afternoons."
Caption 24, El Aula Azul - Las actividades de la escuela
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Todos los miércoles, voy con mi mejor amiga al cine.
Every Wednesday, I go with my best friend to the movies.
Caption 18, Ariana - Mi Semana
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"Todos los jueves, aprendía nuevas canciones en mi clase de guitarra".
"Every Thursday, I used to learn new songs in my guitar class."
Caption 57, Carlos explica - El pretérito Cap 4: Imperfecto I
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Pensaré cada día en Daniel cuando él vuele a Guatemala el próximo viernes.
I will think about Daniel every day when he flies to Guatemala next Friday.
Caption 36, Conjugación - El verbo 'pensar'
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El día más fuerte, o sea, de mayor afluencia de personal sería el sábado.
The busiest day, I mean, the one with the largest influx of people would be Saturday.
Caption 25, Mercado de San Miguel - Misael
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Estaba pensando, el domingo me gustaría invitar a los Mendoza
I was thinking, on Sunday I would like to invite the Mendozas
a tomar onces para que se animen un poquito, ¿hmm?
to have an afternoon snack so that they can cheer up a little but, hmm?
Captions 11-12, Los Años Maravillosos - Capítulo 4
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Let's take these sentences to mention something important. The plural form of the days of the week that end in "s" (lunes, martes, miércoles, jueves and viernes) is the same as their singular form. However, if you want to say the plural form of the days of the week that end in vowels (sábado and domingo), you need to add the letter 's' at the end. Here is a list of the singular and plural forms of the days of the week in Spanish:
el lunes - los lunes
el martes - los martes
el miércoles - los miércoles
el jueves - los jueves
el viernes - los viernes
el sábado - los sábados
el domingo - los domingos
Are you ready to practice the pronunciation of the 7 days of the week in Spanish? Let's take a look at the following clip from our friends Maru and Sol from GoSpanish.
Lunes, martes, miércoles, jueves.
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday.
¿Me ayudas, Sol? Sí. Viernes, sábado, y domingo.
Can you help me, Sol? Yes. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
Captions 24-32, Español para principiantes - Los días de la semana
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In order to help you remember the names of the week in Spanish, the following list contains the days of the week in Spanish and English:
Lunes - Monday
Martes - Tuesday
Miércoles - Wednesday
Jueves - Thursday
Viernes - Friday
Sábado - Saturday
Domingo - Sunday
There is something important to remember: Unlike English, the days of the week in Spanish are not capitalized. They are capitalized only if they appear at the beginning of a sentence.
That's it for today. Try to write a couple of sentences with the days of the week in Spanish and read them aloud so you can practice their pronunciation. And don’t forget to send us your feedback and suggestions.
Let’s talk about verbs. As we mentioned before, in Spanish language, all regular verbs belong to one of the following groups: verbs ending in ‘-ar’, verbs ending in ‘-er’ and verbs ending in ‘-ir’. Today, we will take a look at those verbs ending in ‘-er’.
Before that, however, let’s keep in mind that regular verbs are formed using the following formula: verb stem + infinitive ending. Let’s look at some of the most common regular ‘ER’ verbs in Spanish:
A verb is considered regular when the verb stem doesn’t change from the infinitive form to the conjugated form of the verb. Let’s take the regular verb aprender (to learn) and see its conjugation in the simple present. Notice how the stem stays the same but the endings vary:
Aquí aprenden a diseñar y confeccionar decorados.
Here they learn to design and make decorations.
Caption 26, Europa Abierta - Taller de escenografía en Olivares
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Now, let’s take the regular verb comer (to eat) and see how the conjugation works in the simple past:
Fuimos a pasear, comimos un helado.
We went for a walk, we ate an ice cream.
Caption 29, El Aula Azul - La Doctora Consejos - El pasado
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Let’s use a different verb to see the conjugation of a regular ‘er’ verb in the simple future. Let’s take the verb vender (to sell):
Mañana venderé mi casa.
Tomorrow, I will sell my house.
Let’s finish this lesson by learning more verbs with these 5 sentences using er verbs in Spanish:
1. Beber (to drink)
Yo bebo agua.
I drink water.
Caption 27, El Aula Azul - Actividades diarias - En casa con Silvia
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2. Comprender (to comprehend / understand)
Ahora comprendo mejor la operación de mi padre.
Now I understand my father's operation better.
Caption 65, Club de las ideas - Lego Fest en Sevilla
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3. Correr (to run)
Corrió hacia la puerta y cuando el príncipe trató de seguirla...
She ran to the door and when the prince tried to follow her...
Caption 16, Cuentos de hadas - La Cenicienta
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4. Prometer (to promise)
Ayer os prometí que estudiaríamos hoy "aconsejar,"
Yesterday I promised you that today we would learn "to advise,"
Caption 1, Escuela Don Quijote - En el aul
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5. Temer (to fear / be afraid of)
Pero ellos no le temen a nada.
But they are not afraid of anything.
Caption 23, Salvando el planeta Palabra - Llegada
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That’s it for this lesson. Now, a final challenge: Take one of the sentences we just mentioned and try to change it using a different person and a different verb tense. And don’t forget to send your feedback and suggestions.
In this lesson, we’ll talk about Spanish words that have the accent on the second-to-last syllable. We call these words palabras graves. In a previous lesson, we talked about palabras agudas, which are words with the accent on the last syllable.
Before we talk about palabras graves, let’s briefly discuss the meaning of the word “accent” in Spanish.
When we pronounce words in Spanish, the accent is the emphasis we give to a particular syllable of a word. We create that emphasis by giving the syllable a greater intensity, a longer duration, or a higher pitch. With that in mind, let’s review the way we categorize words in Spanish, according to their accent:
- Palabras agudas (oxytone words) | accent on the last syllable
- Palabras graves (paroxytone words) | accent on the second-to-last syllable
- Palabras esdrújulas (proparoxytone words) | accent on the third-to-last syllable
- Palabras sobresdrújulas (over-proparoxytone words) | accent on any syllable before the third-to-last syllable
Now we can focus on palabras graves, which are also known as palabras llanas. Let’s look at a couple of words:
Palabras como "lápiz" o "cereza" son palabras graves.
Words like "lápiz" [pencil] or "cereza" [cherry] are paroxytone words.
Caption 33, Carlos explica - Acentuación Cap. 4: Clasificación de las palabras según el acento
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The word lápiz has two syllables (lá | piz) and the accent goes on the second-to-last syllable “lá.” Similarly, the word cereza has three syllables (ce | re | za) and the accent also goes on the second-to-last syllable “re.”
We note that the word lápiz has a graphic accent (tilde) on the “á,” while the “e” in the second-to-last syllable of cereza doesn’t have that accent. Why not? It’s because paroxytone words need that graphic accent ONLY if they DO NOT end with “n,” “s,” or a vowel: Cereza ends in a vowel, so we don’t need the tilde.
y luego pasa en botella, donde se añade azúcar y eh... levadura.
and then goes into the bottle, where sugar is added and um... yeast.
Caption 26, Feria de Vinos Españoles en Londres - Bodegas Castell D'Age
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The word azúcar has three syllables (a | zú | car) and the accent goes on the second-to-last syllable “zú”. Since this word doesn’t end in “n,” “s” or a vowel, we need to put a tilde on the vowel of the second-to-last syllable.
La vida de músico es muy difícil, Kevin, es muy sacrificada.
The musician's life is very difficult, Kevin, it's very demanding.
Caption 16, Los Años Maravillosos - Capítulo 3
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Likewise, the word difícil (di | fí | cil) has the accent on the second-to-last syllable “fí” and we need to put the graphic accent on the “í” since this word ends in a consonant (“l”), which is neither an “n,” an “s” nor a vowel.
There are, however, many palabras graves in Spanish that don’t need a graphic accent. Let’s take a look:
El lunes, por ejemplo, fui a trabajar.
On Monday for example, I went to work.
Caption 6, El Aula Azul - La Doctora Consejos: El pasado
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Both lunes ( lu | nes) and ejemplo (e | jem | plo) have the accent on the second-to-last syllable. However, since lunes ends in “s” and ejemplo ends in a vowel, neither word needs the tilde.
One last thing: There are many words that are agudas in the singular and graves in the plural. Take a look at the following list (stressed syllable are in boldface):
- Organización [organization] | organizaciones [organizations]
- Nación [nation] | naciones [nations]
- Doctor [doctor] | doctores [doctors]
- Pared [wall] | paredes [walls]
That's it for now. If you feel like practicing a little bit more, take one of our videos and try to find all the paroxytone words with and without a tilde. And of course, don’t forget to send your feedback and suggestions.
Palabras agudas: Stress at the end
Some Unique Words and Expressions
Too Fast? Blame the Sinalefas - Part 1
In the Spanish language, all infinitive verbs belong to one of the following groups: verbs ending in ‘-ar’, verbs ending in ‘-er’ and verbs ending in ‘-ir’.
Likewise, each infinitive verb is formed using the following formula:
Verb stem + infinitive ending.
Let’s look at some of the most common regular ‘AR’ verbs in Spanish:
Hablar (to speak) = Habl + ar
Comprar (to buy) = Compr + ar
Estudiar (to study) = Estudi + ar
A verb is considered regular when the verb stem doesn’t change from the infinitive form to the conjugated form of the verb. Let’s take the regular verb hablar (to speak) and see its conjugation in the simple present. Notice how the stem stays the same but the endings vary:
Yo hablo (I speak)
Tú hablas (You speak)
Él/Ella habla (He/She speaks)
Nosotros/as hablamos (We speak)
Vosotros/as habláis (You speak)
Ellos/as hablan (They speak)
... o cuando mis alumnos hablan español.
... or when my students speak Spanish.
Caption 84, Lecciones con Carolina - Adjetivos posesivos
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Now, let’s take the regular verb comprar (to buy) and see how the conjugation works in the simple past:
Yo compré (I bought)
Tú compraste (You bought)
Él/Ella compró (He/She bought)
Nosotros/as compramos (We bought)
Vosotros/as comprasteis (You bought)
Ellos/as compraron (They bought)
¿Recuerdas el regalo que compré? -Mm-hm.
Do you remember the gift that I bought? -Mm-hm.
Caption 17, El Aula Azul - La Doctora Consejos - El pasado
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Let’s use a different verb to see the conjugation of a regular ‘AR’ verb in the simple future. Let’s take the verb estudiar (to study):
Yo estudiaré (I will study)
Tú estudiarás (You will study)
Él/Ella estudiará (He/She will study)
Nosotros/as estudiaremos (We will study)
Vosotros/as estudiaréis (You will study)
Ellos/as estudiarán (They will study)
La Comisaría de Pesca dice que estudiará la forma de pagar esa indemnización.
The Fisheries Commissioner says that she will evaluate the way to pay that compensation.
Caption 50, Europa Abierta - Aguas en discordia
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Take a look at the following list featuring some of the most used 'AR' verbs in Spanish:
Ahora puedo cantar.
Now I can sing.
Caption 36, Ariana Cita médica
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nos gusta bailar, nos gusta disfrutar,
we like to dance, we like to have fun,
Caption 34, Días festivos La diablada pillareña - Part 1
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In this example, the speaker also uses another -ar verb in Spanish: disfrutar (to have fun/to enjoy).
Y ahora, voy a bajar.
And now, I am going to go down.
Caption 15, Raquel Las direcciones
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Comenzó a caminar sin rumbo fijo.
He began to walk with no particular destination in mind.
Caption 39, Aprendiendo con Carlos El microrrelato - Part 2
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Tengo que contestar esta llamada.
I have to answer this call.
Caption 9, Confidencial: El rey de la estafa Capítulo 3 - Part 1
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Me encanta descansar un poquito después del trabajo.
I love to rest a little bit after work.
Caption 21, Ariana Mi Casa
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para entrar en nuevos mercados.
to enter into new markets.
Caption 6, Negocios Problemas laborales - Part 1
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Tómate un tiempo para escuchar,
Take some time to listen to,
Caption 17, Ana Carolina Mejorando la pronunciación
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Ahora sólo me falta limpiar mi mesa de noche.
Now I just have to clean my nightstand.
Caption 27, Ana Carolina Arreglando el dormitorio
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Now, a final challenge: take one of the verbs we just mentioned and try conjugating it in simple present, past and future. And don’t forget to send your feedback and suggestions.
Spanish Reflexive Verbs for Your Daily Routine
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