A ti o a tí?

Question

I see that the "i" is accented in "a mí" but have seen variations with ti. Should it be "a ti" or "a tí." Why would it vary?

Gracias.

Answer 1

In Spanish accents are sometimes used to differentiate the part of speech if there are 2 with the same spelling. Mi (without the accent) is the possessive pronoun meaning "my" in English. Mí (with the accent) is the pronoun used as the object of a preposition: a mí, de mí, para mí. "to me, of me, for me" in English.

Although it does occur in ti mismo, ti misma, the possessive pronoun is tu and so it is not the same in usage as mí and mi. Briefly then Señor Jack-OBrien is right.

Espero que me explique y te ayude.

Bien explicado, muy claro. - Jeremias, DIC 2, 2011

Thanks for clearing up a lingering doubt!! - territurtle, DIC 2, 2011

Answer 2

a ti

"ti" never has an accent.

Muy bien entonces. Gracias Jack. - scratch2486, DIC 2, 2011

No hay de que :~) - Jack-OBrien, DIC 2, 2011

Answer 3

Hi Scratch,

The personal pronoun "ti" never carries an accent mark.

If you are looking for an authoritative source, you can always check with the Diccionario panhispánico de dudas (DPD) published by the Real Academia Española (RAE). The RAE itself is part of an association of 22 Academias worldwide charged with setting the standards for the Spanish language.

Here is a direct link to the page on pronouns: pronombres

If you scroll down the page to the table entitled "Formas de los pronombres personales tónicos," you will see that when it follows a preposition (término de preposición), the correct form for the second person (2.ª pers.) singular is "ti" and not "tí

Two exceptions to the use of "ti"
(1). When it follows the preposition "con," the specialized form "contigo" is used.
(2). In some areas, the pronoun "vos" is used rather than "ti" (for more information on this, you might look up the topic "voseo")

Why would it vary?

Because, just like with any language, people—even native speakers—are prone to making errors in regards to both grammar and orthography.

A vote for the valuable link, thanks! - Jubilado, DIC 2, 2011

Answer 4

Whilst Collins shows there is a differentiation between "mi and mí with an accent" there appears no such differentiation for "ti"

Answer 5

mm I am a spanish speaker I think it has accent.

Hablo español y creo que si lleva acento

I'm sorry but native speakers aren't the best when it comes to written accents, it's the number one mistake all of my Spanish friends make and... that 'si' should be a 'sí'. ^3^; Sorry... - Suzanne_Romijnders, NOV 17, 2014

Answer 6

a tí,- WITH the accent is used in lesson 2.3

Hmmmm. Is there more to this answer then? Thanks, Wendy. - scratch2486, DIC 2, 2011

This is true. It's at timepoint 12:20 in the lesson 2.3 video. - pesta, DIC 2, 2011

It is just a typo... - Tosh, DIC 2, 2011

Answer 7

I don't think 'tí' exists, because words of one syllable only wear an accent to differentiate two functions of an otherwise identical word. There's such a difference for mi (possesive) and mí (object pronoun). (This association is probably why people mix ti and tí up.) However, the possesive for the second person singular is 'tu', (another example! it differs in the same way from tú = subject pronoun) and 'ti' can thus only refer to the object pronoun, used mainly after a preposition such as 'a'.