Más que a nada - Why the personal 'a'?
Does anyone know why the personal 'a' is used here, I'm guessing that's what it is.
I was just answering someone's question about how to say - I love you more than anything in the world and my first thought was:
Te quiero más que nada en el mundo.
but as I'm so often wrong I had a check and quite a few sources said:
Te quiero más que a nada en el mundo.
Anyone know why?
Now if it said más que a nadie, I'd understand
12 Answers
To love someone = Querer a alguien
The preposition A indicates who is loved. Even if it's nobody, or nothing, it takes the preposition A
Quiero a Marcos más (de lo) que (quiero) a Jose
When we replace the direct object "a Marcos" by its appropriate pronoun--> Lo quiero, often the preposition is omitted, but in "a nadie", there is no pronoun replacement, hence we need the A.
This is because the pronoun takes the A implicit
Lo = a él
Te = a ti
Te quiero (a ti) más (de lo) que (quiero) a nadie /nada
We need the A to indicate who is the beloved.
What does it happen if we leave out the a ?
Te quiero más que nadie
Well, this is correct, but note that it is a completely different sentence, meaning:
Nobody loves you more than me
Here nadie is not the recipient of the action of the verb, but the one who loves.
Te quiero más que ella = I love you more than she does
Te quiero más que a ella = I love you more than her
Thanks Cogu, I understand about the 'a' in your examples but my question was about the 'a' in front of 'nada' - te quiero mas que a nada
Well, I don't see the problem. Nobody, nothing, it just works the same.
What I'm saying is that we need the A to say who/what is the loved one/ thing.
Te quiero más que nada is nonsense, unless you want to say:
Nothing loves you less than I do,
which sounds pretty funny, because things don't love, only people do.
However, you can love people and things, and abstract things, and places, and so on.
Te quiero más que a mi vida.
Omit the a and you will have = My life loves you less than I do.
These are the lyrics from a very beatiful Spanish song:
Te quiero más que a mis ojos,
te quiero más que a mi vida,
más que al aire que respiro
y más que a la madre mía.
Kiwi, I think the problem is in what you call the personal a.I don't know what a "personal a" is. I've been speaking Spanish for all my life, and I've never heard about a "personal A" until I joined this forum.
One thing is true: when querer means to love (in the sense of "feeling love", not in the sense of "like it") it takes the A (always!) before the direct object (unless you replace it by a pronoun)
Quiero a mi coche = I love my car (It has been a good car for a lot of years and I'm emotionally attached to it)
Quiero mi coche = I want my car! (I'm demanding it!)
I've read all the answers and feel confused. Sadly, I seem rather unlikely to say it in Spanish, but just in case:
Could one say Quiero a tí más que a nadie?
Thanks to Cogumela I put up the correct version, but I leave the wrong one up,so that others can benefit:
Te quiero a tí mas que a nadie.
Good job we're having help here, I would unhesitatingly have translated that into You love yourself more than anyone else. Now you see how confusing this! Would that be : Quieres a tí mas que a nadie? or Quieres a tu mismo mas que a nadie. Cogumela, over to you.
Is because in "mas que a nada - more than anything else" you are doing an emphasis and reinforcing the idea
In "mas que nada" you are comparing with something else
Could one say «Quiero a tí más que a nadie?»
I believe that you'd need to say "Te quiero....." - --Mariana
Te quiero a ti más que a nadie.
From Dudas
5.1. Si el complemento tónico es también un pronombre personal, la coaparición del pronombre átono es obligatoria, tanto si el complemento es directo como indirecto: Me castigaron a mí; A ti te dieron el premio (no *Castigaron a mí; *A ti dieron el premio). Aunque son posibles, en estos casos, oraciones idénticas sin el complemento tónico (Me castigaron; Te dieron el premio), existen diferencias expresivas de importancia entre ambas posibilidades: la presencia del complemento tónico denota un propósito de contraste o discriminación, ausente de la oración en la que solo aparece el pronombre átono; así, en Me castigaron a mí, frente a Me castigaron, se subraya el hecho de que ha sido solo a mí, y no a otros igualmente merecedores de ello o más culpables que yo, a quien se ha castigado.
In case you can't get past the grammar jargon, it says that if the (a ...) contains a personal pronoun like (a ti), (a mí), (a él), rather than (a mi hermano), (a Daniel), etc. then the "redundant" i.o.p./d.o.p. must be used also. (Then it discusses possible changes in meaning between just using the i.o.p./d.o.p. with and without the (a...) phrase.)
Okay, someone tell me if I'm getting this right!
Te quiero más que a mi vida. I love you more than I love my life.
Te quiero más que mi vida. I want you more than my life. (wants you)
So,
Te quiero más que a nada. I love you more than anything.
Te quiero más que nada. I want you more than nothing wants you. (which, of course, doesn't make sense!)
Am I on the right track?
Amor y Paz:
How could you express the difference between, I want you and I love you? -
¿Te quiero o quiero tú? ...?
This difference simply does not exist in Spanish.
In Spanish, we love to people, we don't love people. We don't want people, but we want to them. (En español no se quieren las personas, sino que se les quiere)
Saying "quiero mi mujer, quiero tú, quiero AmoryPaz", sounds plain wrong.
You could say, though, "quiero una mujer" but it sounds as primitive as "I require/need a woman", (almost as if a woman were an object, nothing to do with love!), whereas "quiero a una mujer" means "I love a woman"
I love you = te quiero
I want you = te quiero.
I don't know what a "personal a" is. I've been speaking Spanish for all my life, and I've never heard about a "personal A" until I joined this forum.
The "personal a" is a rule about prepositions for native English speakers learning Spanish that is taught because the corresponding phrases in English don't have a preposition and it is one of the few rules about prepositions in either language that actually works. However it does lead to confusion because there are lots of other uses for "a".
Spanish grammar books mention it, but don't call it the "personal a". They just mention it as an example of "preposiciones sin significado léxico".
Te quiero más que a nada: I love you more than anything else.
te quiero, más que nada porque eres guapa. I love you above all because you ....
Más que nadie also works.
tengo más ( dinero )que nadie
Esta se cree que sabe más que nadie.
Más que nada, above all:
Más que nada iba a decir que....
I know I can't answer again but I make this answer on behalf of my husband, who speaks very little Spanish indeed, he has come up with a formula that helps:
Quiero una mala mujer. I want a bad/naughty woman.
Quiero a una mala mujer. I love this, specific, bad woman.
¿Cogumela, como te parece?
