Does 'llevar a' mean 'to bring' in the same way as one would say 'trae'...
In the sentence Se puede llevar a un amigo a la fiesta it would appear that one could also say 'se puede traer un amigo a la fiesta' (I have tried to put the phrases into a complete context to give an easier understanding)
Several questions here as I am trying to follow a thread in Answers and I don't want to confuse anyone with my ignorance, firstly
is the 'a' in 'lleva a' the personal 'a' and if so why because it would appear that 'un amigo is an unspecified person?
if the verb llevar carries the personal 'a' here, why would the verb traer not carry it if, as would seem reasonable, both of the sentences offered in the thread mean you can bring a friend to the party.
I am unable to find in any of my many grammar references (or search engines on the internet) that llevar is a verb that would require the use of the preposition 'a' in a common verbal constructions.
I must get this straight in my mind. I would be grateful for any crumb of help here. Thank you everyone
2 Answers
And you shouldn't use two conjugated verbs in a row in those sentences.
Hi, and good questions. The 'a' in your examples is the personal "a" required before a person used as an object. "Un amigo" would be preceded by "a" just as, say, "Juan" would be.
I don't think traer would be commonly used in the sense you give. It is more commonly used to mean, bring a thing to another location, although it can mean to drive someone crazy (Traer a alguien loco).
If you did use traer in conjunction with a person, the personal "a" would be required.
That's a crumb of help, until Lazarus weighs in!
Best,
J
