When to use "a" in front of "el" or "la"
I am having trouble figuring out when to use "A" in front of "el" or "la".
I am using Rosetta Stone, and here are a couple of examples:
Al hombre le gusta el golf. Why wouldnt it just be El hombre gusta el golf. Not sure why the "Al" or "le" are in there.
Another example: "A la nina no le gustan los zapatos rojos" Why the A? Why the "le"?
3 Answers
We use ''a'' in front of a when it's an object, Ok direct object but in an abstract meaning, for ex.Yo tomo el libro, I take the book, BUT Yo veo a mi hermano,\/a mi hermana, yo tomo la calle, BUT yo veo a la calle=I see street
When an action is done to a person, you will use 'le' ...to him, golf is pleasing... the action is gustar - to please... Al = a el ...which you never write.
When a comes before el... it becomes al. When de comes before el... it becomes del
Le is an indirect object pronoun. It tells you who is benefiting from the action. Go to studyspanish.com to see them all and more detailed description. Le = him/he ...
Al hombre = to the man
le gusta = it is pleasing
el golf = golf
A la niña = to the girl
le gustan = they are pleasing
los zapatos rojos = the red shoes
Hope I helped at all.
Al hombre can be translated to "To the man" they combine the "a" (to) and the "el" (the) into one syllable and say "al" instead of saying a el.
The le is there because it is an indirect-object pronoun for he. Me, te, le, nos, les correspond with me (me), he/she (te), him/her (le), we (nos), them (les). Le(he) gusta (likes) golf
Second example: A (to) la (the) nina (girl) no le(she) gustan(doesn't like)
It's a bit of basic grammar that you can find here or on the web. Keep studying and you'll get it soon. Hopefully that helps.
