Can "de" replace "a" in this sentence?

Question

I read a sentence, "¡No le cortes el pelo a tu hermana!" Why doesn't it say, "¡No le cortes el pelo de tu hermana!"? Can "de" replace "a" in this sentence?

Answer 1

In this construction, "de" cannot replace "a". In Spanish, possession is usually not expressed with regard to hair and other parts of the body. So normally you don't say "my hair" but "the hair", and it's the verbs and pronouns that have to show whose hair you're talking about. So in this case, someone (presumably a parent or other elder) is telling someone else (presumably a child), literally: "Don't cut the hair to your sister!" This doesn't make a lot of sense in English, but the "le" and the "a tu hermana" are there to tell us whose hair not to cut. Otherwise this would just say "Don't cut the hair!" which is a little too ambiguous.

Great explanation! - francobollo, Jul 1, 2013

Hola, PumpkinCalabaza. Thanks for your good answer. One more question, you said "possession is usually not expressed with parts of the body", so what is it usually used with? - joygogo, Jul 1, 2013

Most anything can be "possessed" in Spanish, except usually parts of the body and clothing. So you can say "mi carro" or "su madre". - PumpkinCalabaza, Jul 1, 2013

Answer 2

Adding to what Pumpkin said:

You can, but it will mean something different. As Pumpkin stated it won't be the hair that the sister sports as the hair attached to her head.

Which it might be still "hers" and on her head, such as a wig, her wig?