why "a tenis" instead of just tenis?
Why do we day "a tenis" or "a futbol"? Why don't we just say "tenis" or "futbol"
3 Answers
I am willing to bet that you are probably referring to the use of these words immediately following the verb "jugar." In this case it is because the verb "jugar" is used intransitively (that is it does not take a direct object) and because of this, it requires that the activity in question be introduced by the preposition "a."
Compare the following:
?Me gusta el fútbol
?Me gusta jugar al fútbol
?¿Dónde puedo practicar fútbol?
Hopefully, from these examples you can see that the word "fútbol" is not always preceded by this preposition. Just as an aside, in many areas in the Americas (at least according to the DPD) the preposition is usually omitted in favor of a transitive construction, but it is also mentioned that this is probably due to the stronger influence English plays in these areas (i.e. phenomena such as code switching, code mixing, etc. are more likely to occur where there is a stronger English presence)
a
2. prep. Precede al complemento nominal o verbal que es régimen de ciertos verbos. Condenar a muerte. Jugar a las cartas.
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(Precedes the verbal or nominal phrase which is required by certain verbs)
Why do we day "a tenis" or "a futbol"? Why don't we just say "tenis" or "futbol"
Why don't we say "Jugar tenis? Mmmm, let's see?
Why don't you say "He is searching things" instead of "He is searching for things"?
Why don't you say "He is staring me" instead of "He is staring at me"?
Why don't you say "He accounted such problems" instead of "He accounted for such problems"?
Why don't you say "He is accustomed that." instead of "He is accustomed to that?
Why don't you say "He is aware it" instead of "He is aware of it"?
Why don't you say "It is composed nuclei" instead of "It is composed of nuclei"?
Why do people not stop to check their own language before asking why other languages do weird things which also happen in their own language?
One of the most useful things a teacher ever taught me was that there is no "why" in languages. That's just the way they say it. Spanish isn't a variation of English. It's a completely different animal. Any time you can ask, "Why does Spanish do it this way?" you can flip the question around and say, "Why doesn't English do it this way?" In the end, the answer will always be, "Because that's just the way they do it."
You may be able to cite a bunch of grammar texts, but the thing to remember is that grammar was invented after language, to explain what was happening, not as a set of rules used to create the language. It's a description of what's happening, not an explanation of why.
