Personal "A" Question?

Question

1. When do I use a personal A?
2. In the sentence: "Mi profesora conoce a España muy bien." Is the a after conoce correct? Or is it just used after a person?
3. In the sentence: "Observamos muchos estudiantes por la mañana" Do I need an a before muchos, or no?
4. In the sentence: "él mira a los estudiantes en el pasillo" Should the a be before los?

Thanks for your help

Answer 1

Good question, and my first reaction was that, no you don't need the 'a' before España. But I've since found this interesting article from Tomísimo that sheds some quite interesting light on the personal 'a' with country names.

Country names

Use the personal a before country names that are direct objects of a verb.

En febrero viajaré a España.— I will travel to Spain in February.

Quiero mucho a Venezuela.— I love Venezuela.

Do not use the personal a if the country name is already preceded by an article.

Me gusta mucho la Argentina.— I really like Argentina.

Perhaps this lesson might help. I've updated it to address your questions.

The Spanish 'A' and its many uses including 'the personal a'

An excerpt:

An untranslatable use. To introduce a direct object that is a person (or treated like a person - eg a pet), also used for groups of people: Conozco a Pablo. I know Peter.

Encontré a mi perro Rover. I found my dog Rover.

¿Sabes cómo enseñar a los estudiantes habilidades técnicas? Do you know how to teach the students technical skills?

Edit - actually my edits got bigger than Ben Hur so have written a wee lesson directly on the subject of the personal 'a' - hope it helps.