Reflexive pronoun

Question

which of these sentences is the correct translation of "Dora taught them how to speak spanish" and is it also correct if the a before the word hablar is omitted? thanks in advance

1. Dora les enseñó a hablar español.
2. Dora los enseñó a hablar español.
3. Dora se enseñó a hablar español.

Answer 1

Hello. "Dora les enseñó a hablar español" is correct. The indirect object pronoun is used because she is teaching it to them.

is it also correct to say Dora les enseñó hablar español. because hablar already means "to speak" - 009ee30f, JUL 3, 2010

That's a good point, but I don't believe so. I've never heard it without the 'a', anyway. - MacFadden, JUL 3, 2010

The fact that the infinitive means "to..." has no bearing. - 0074b507, JUL 3, 2010

"empiezo a hablar" does not mean "I begin to to speak." the "a" is not translated. (similar to the personal "a") - 0074b507, JUL 3, 2010

Answer 2

verbs with prepositions

In Spanish, many verbs must be followed by a preposition, which may or may not correspond to the preposition (if any) used in English. The following is a list of Spanish verbs which require a when followed by an infinitive.

enseñar a = to teach to, show how to