Use of 'visitar'

Question

Is it 'visitar a' in the sense of visiting a city. Or simply 'visitar'.

Many thanks.

Answer 1

Visita un lugar.
Visita a un amigo.

The a is the personal a and is required because a person is the direct object of a transitive verb, not because the verb is visitar.

Thanks. Knew I would have to use the personal 'a', just wasnt sure if it was needed for a place. Thanks. - chris-keen, Dec 20, 2010

Answer 2

the use of visitar is much the same as the use of "to visit" in English. it can be used to describe visiting a city or other places or it can also be used to describe visiting a person and etc. por ejemplo, Ayer visité a un amigo. (yesterday I visited a friend)

hope it helped :D

Many thanks. I did think that was the case - but the more I thought about it the less sure I became! - chris-keen, Dec 20, 2010

Answer 3

That is a very good question. I hope some more advanced users will respond, but I am not aware of any special handling for the verb "visitar" that requires an "a" to follow. To me, "visitar a" simply means "to visit to" or, conjugated "visito a" (I visit to), etc.

En Nochebuena, visito una iglesia con un servicio por la noche.

On Christmas Eve, I visit a church with an evening service.

I hope advanced users will correct me if I am wrong. I hope that helps!

from what I've learned, visitar needs 'a' when it's used to describe a person - jenna93, Dec 20, 2010

yes, that is correct. I'll consider this a learning experience. :) - 0066c384, Dec 20, 2010

Answer 4

list of Spanish verbs requiring the preposition a