Personal A used for multiple people?
Hi, quick question:
I know the personal a is used when the direct object is a person, e.g.,
¿Ves a Catalina? ¿Ves el coche?
However, does this rule apply to multiple people? For example, I have never heard,
¿Ves a ellos?, or ¿Ves a los jugadores?
Please clarify! I am a Spanish teacher and I should know this, to teach my students. But I don´t. : X
Gracias!
Eric Jensen
4 Answers
¿Ves a ellos?, or ¿Ves a los jugadores?
You'll never heard "Ves a ellos", because "a ellos" can only be added if you have previously said "les" or "los", and the same happens with "a mí", "a ti", "a él"... and the other pronouns. "Ves a los jugadores" is perfect; removing "a" would produce a weird effect.
I think I understand.
So, the personal a is NOT used for personal pronouns: él, ella, ellos, ellas, etc. It IS used for people, regardless of whether you are referring to a single person or multiple people.
In other words,
¿Ves a Catalina? ¿Ves a los jugadores?
BUT also
¿La ves? ¿Los ves?
Correct?
Gracias otra vez!
EJ
The problem here isn't if the direct object is a person or multiple people, but the personal pronoun you are using.
Let's take the first example:
¿Ves a Catalina? ¿Ves el coche?
The correct use of the personal pronoun instead of the direct object in this case would be:
¿La ves? ¿Lo ves?
We wouldn't say either:
¿Ves a ella? ¿Ves a él?
Similarly, we would say:
¿Los ves? ¿Las ves?
So, the personal pronoun for the direct objet is lo, la, for a person, or a thing, and its respective plurals, los, las, for multiple people or group of things. And it is used before the verb:
¿Lo ves? ¿La ves?
¿Los ves? ¿Las ves?
Thank you for responding so quickly!
So, to clarify,
the personal a is used with multiple who are NOT described as pronouns, but
with pronouns, it is only used as an indirect object--ie les, le, etc.
Is this correct?
Thanks! También a tí mis estudiantes te agradecen. 
Eric
