"a" in the sentence "?Conociste a mi jefe?"
I have a question about the sentence ?Conociste a mi jefe? I believe “conociste” meas “met”, “mi” means “my”, “jefe” means “boss”. But what does “a” mean? Why is it needed in this sentence? When I checked the word, “a” is a preposition which can mean “at” or “to”. But “conocer” is a transitive word. So I do not think that the preposition “a” is not needed after “conociste”. Would someone solve my confusion?
6 Answers
It's sometimes called the "personal a"; it has no equivalent in English but as chileno says it's necessary in Spanish. Check out this short article: The Personal a.
On the off chance that you like grammar ... If the direct object of a sentence is a known person (or sometimes even a pet or cherished homeland) the 'a' personalizes them, that is, let's the listener know that you are referring to a particular person who definitely exists, and for this reason, as Manity said, English speakers often refer to it as the personal 'a' - Spanish speakers however will have no idea what you're talking about if you ask them about 'the personal a' - they just instinctively know when to use it.
We say conocer al jefe because it's a person, but conocer Estados Unidos.
It is just "one of those things" we have them in English too
For example -
I listen TO you / I hear you.
I don't know grammar, but the "a" is absolutely necessary there.
Thank you, Manity!
