What is the "a personal" ?

Question

WHAT IS THE "A PERSONAL" ? I ma working from a workbook that does not describe it. Does it have some relationship to first / second person, etc.

Thank you

Answer 1

You use the the personal a in front of the direct object of a sentence - if that object is a human and personally known to you or sometimes even if they are just a definitely existing person. The personal a is also used with pets and sometimes if you are referring to a specifically known animal. (see note below)

Eg. Vi la manzana. I saw the apple, the apple is the direct object but it's not a person or a pet so no personal 'a'.

but

Vi a Maria. I saw Maria. Being a person she needs the personal 'a'.

This is a bit more advanced but with animals the personal a can include but is not limited to those you have some personal connection with - the personal connection might just be that it was a particular animal mentioned before -

eg ví al raton - I saw the rat, not a pet or anything but the one we were talking about yesterday.

With humans it can also be a case of whether they are known to exist or not, not even so much if you know them personally.

For instance someone might say - ví a la gente en el parque. (I saw the people in the park) Surely you wouldn't know all the people in the park personally, it's just that they are real people so you need the personal a, you saw them and they exist for sure.

I hope that has helped rather than confuse

Also there are quite a few posts on this subject already, here's one that might help you

the personal 'a'

Answer 2

for me,,a personal,, is an adjective, is individual, private,done in person directly with oneself,not through others or by letter,,its a bodily appearance or showing in person,, So you doing right now a work book,,so maybe,,you create by your own ideas,,regard to the topic given...