why "le toca preparar"? Context is using personal "a"

Question

My question: My friend Ellen has to prepare her medicines for the week.

A mi amiga Ellen tiene preparar sus medicinas par la semana.

Julians response:

It's not necessary here. There is nothing personal about medicines and "mi amiga" is simply the subject.

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However, you could say this (with 'a') A mi amiga, Ellen, le toca preparar sus medicinas ............

Gracias Julian!

I know tocar can mean to feel or touch. Is this what you meant?

Answer 1

Tocar here means something like "It's her turn to do," "It's time for her to do," It's up to her to do."

Thanks for explaining this a little bit more! - bandit51jd, Mar 6, 2011

Answer 2

Hola, bandit,

Toca is a great word that can also mean "her turn" as Julian describes (Paralee uses it a lot in her lessons as "te toca" to say "It's your turn") !

However, your sentence did not indicate that a "turn" was involved.

So I would take the liberty of translating it this way:

A mi amiga Ellen tiene preparar sus medicinas par la semana. (your sentence)

Ellen, mi amiga, tiene que preparar sus medicinas para la semana.

Tener que = to have to do something

Gracias, Nancy! - bandit51jd, Mar 6, 2011