Why does this sentence need an "a"?

Question

I know the usage of personal “a” and informal future (ir a + infinitive). But how about the following sentence? Why does it need “a”?

David la ama más que a su propia vida.

(David loves her more than his own life.)

Answer 1

I am probably completely wrong here as I am not very good at grammar but I disagree with Observer.

David la ama (a su esposa) más que a su propia vida.

...a su propia vida is not a person and thus does not need a personal "a".

David la ama más que frijoles. or David la ama más que a frijoles. Which is correct?

I don't think the a is needed. But I am probably wrong and I hope someone can explain to me why.

But it is needed.... ;) Go to your corner! lol - chileno, Oct 6, 2013

Then explain why. - gringojrf, Oct 7, 2013

Thyere is no explanation. We don't have that personal "a" stuff, and then you know I do not know grammar, but I know it has to have an "a" there. - chileno, Oct 7, 2013

Hola, gringojrf. I have the same quesiton as you do. Thanks for asking Observe those follow-up questions. - joygogo, Oct 7, 2013

Answer 2

Consider the following sentence:

David ama a su esposa.

Now, if we were to remove the prepositional marker "a," we would be left with:

David ama su esposa.

In English, with its strict subject-verb-object word order, such a construction would pose no problem; however, in Spanish, word order is much more flexible, and the sentence above is unclear as to whether we are saying that David loves his wife or whether he is the object of her affections. To clarify which argument is the object of our verb ("David" or "su esposa") we must include the "personal a" as seen in our first example.

Given this information, we might then extend this line of reasoning to a more complex sentence such as:

David ama a su esposa más que ama David a su propia vida.

To clarify the grammatical role that each element plays in our clauses we might circle each element and label it as such:

[First Clause:] (David)[subject] (ama)[verb] (a su esposa)[D.O.] (más)[comparative adverb] (que)[relative pronoun] [second clause:] (ama)[verb] (David)[subject] (a su propia vida)[D.O.]

Of course, we can see that some of these elements are redundant, and for the sake of brevity, need not be explicitly repeated (namely, it is somewhat unnecessary to repeat the idea of "David ama" in both clauses):

David ama a su esposa más que a su propia vida

This brings us pretty close to your original sentence where the phrasal direct object "a su esposa" is shortened even further to the object pronoun "la:"

David la ama más que a su propia vida

I hope that you find this explanation useful.

I do not know grammar, but your cogitation is exceptional. ;-D - chileno, Oct 7, 2013

Yes, I can't agree more! Excellent! - joygogo, Oct 7, 2013

Answer 3

I don't think the a is needed. But I am probably wrong and I hope someone can explain to me why.

By drawing this comparison, we are presenting the information in our two clauses as parallel ideas, because of this, they require a parallel grammatical construction. Not including the personal a in our second clause would make it possible to interpret the noun phrase in our second clause as the verbs subject rather than its object. I believe that from a grammatical standpoint the omission of the "personal a" in the second clause would be an error. In any case, grammar considerations aside, the sentence you have proposed (i.e. when lacking the personal a) sounds wrong (at least to my ears).

Thank you for the explanation. So if you reversed the construction like this what happens? David ama su propia vida más que a su esposa. Do I still need the personal "a" in front of "su"? - gringojrf, Oct 7, 2013

Yes. - chileno, Oct 7, 2013

I am not sure, but this would fall into a comparison category... any of you know anything about that famous "personal a" of yours with comparisons? - chileno, Oct 7, 2013

Answer 4

Gringo:

I love my wife more than my life. In English this is correct. In Spanish the personal "a" is needed for "my wife" because she is a person. My life is not it is no different than the frijoles that I proposed. Do the frijoles also need the "a"?

I love my wife = Amo a mi esposa (liar) :-D

I love beans = Me gustan/Amo los frijoles (a less)

I love my wife more than beans = Amo a mi esposa mas que a los frijoles. (frijoles has to be preceded by an a, )

Is it because it becomes a comparison?

Comparing this (a mi esposa) with (to this) in Spanish?

I don't know, but I also would like to know.

:-D

Answer 5

This is something in English that we don't have and I'm still adjusting to it. Click here for the lesson.

Thanks for the link Saige. Why does ParaLee give the lesson in spanish, I don't understand fluent spanish. - Maria-Russell, Oct 7, 2013

Have you go any links in English? - Maria-Russell, Oct 7, 2013

Hola, SaigeSmith, thanks for offering me the link. However, my Spanish is not good enough to understand Miss Paralee's Spanish explanation. - joygogo, Oct 7, 2013

Answer 6

the personal 'a'

Here's another one by SpanishDict.

Muchas gracias, Maria. - joygogo, Oct 8, 2013

Answer 7

I wonder, in English do the parallel constructions sound better than the alternatives?

Parallel constructions:

I love reading more than writing.

I love to read more than to write.

Non-parallel constructions:

I love reading more than to write.

I love to read more than writing.

Yes in English parallel constructions are the norm. Is this the reason in Spanish as well? I have never heard that grammar rule or construct, but I accept that it may be true. . - gringojrf, Oct 7, 2013

Answer 8

(1) Do you mean that “David ama su esposa” can be interpreted as either “David loves his wife” or “His wife loves David” when people see it at first sight? In order to make this sentence clearer, we need to use personal “a” to tell readers/listeners “who loves whom”, right?

Exactly. Without the prepositional marker, it is impossible to tell the subject from the direct object.

(2) How to say “David loves her more than himself” and “David loves his wife more than himself” respectively in Spanish? I need these two sentences in order to tell where to place these direct object pronouns.

David loves her more than himself:
La ama David más que a si mismo. David la ama más que a si mismo. Más la ama que a si mismo

David loves his wife more than himself Ama David a su esposa más que a si mismo. David ama a su esposa más que a si mismo. Más ama David a su esposa que a si mismo

(3) “Su propia vida” is not a person, but an object, so do you mean the reason why personal “a” is still used in this sentence is because of the parallel constructions?

I think that the parallel construction plays a large part in why it sounds better with the prepositional marker; however, it might also have something to do with particular verb that is being used (amar). It is not out of the ordinary to find certain nonliving things to be "personified" with the prepositional marker, especially with certain verbs that are more apt to be accompanied by a direct object that represents a person. The verb "amar" happens to be one such verb. It just sounds odd to not include the prepositional marker with the object in the second clause (especially when we take into account the effect of the other clause in our comparison).

Looking at what I have written, I'm not sure whether I have made this clearer or more confusing, but I am not sure how to explain it any other way. As I said before, it might be beyond my abilities to analyze this topic in such a way that it becomes clear to you.

(4) After reading the dialogue between you and gringojrf, I want to make sure which of the sentences gringojrf asked is/are correct. Por favor!

A mi parecer:

David la ama más que frijoles. -- Sounds strange to me

David la ama más que a frijoles. -- OK in form, but kind of a quirky thing to say

David ama frijoles más que a su esposa. -- Still sounds off

David ama a frijoles más que a su esposa. -- Sounds OK

Thanks. So it necessary for any comparison in which one side is a person. I used frijoles only because it could not be confused with anything that needs a personal "a" of its own. - gringojrf, Oct 7, 2013

Observer, thank you very much for giving me such a detailed explanation so patiently. And l'm surprised to know the position of the subject and the object in a Spanish sentence can be so flexible! You are a great teacber. - joygogo, Oct 8, 2013

Answer 9

Parallel constructs in verb conjugation I understand. This is different.

I love my wife more than my life. In English this is correct. In Spanish the personal "a" is needed for "my wife" because she is a person. My life is not it is no different than the frijoles that I proposed. Do the frijoles also need the "a"?

Please explain the grammar rule and give a reference. I am not trying to be argumentative I just don't understand.

Read mi edit....and I know you are not trying to be argumentative, you are just nosey by nature, like it should be and is reasonable to think like that when one is learning a language. But there is an order to learn it....and that's where I come from :) - chileno, Oct 7, 2013

Answer 10

Please explain the grammar rule and give a reference. I am not trying to be argumentative I just don't understand.

The "grammar rule" can be found in section 45.2 (La comparación de desigualidad) of the RAE manual "Nueva gramática de la lengua española."

More specifically, under subsection 5 there is a discussion of "comparativas de núcleo coincidente." The discussion centers on the idea of parallel constructions that I have already described above.

Parallel constructs in verb conjugation I understand. This is different

If I am understanding you correctly, you are considering the examples I have given above ("to read/reading" and "to write/writing") as "conjugated verb forms." However, syntactically, these are elements are not acting as verbs but as nouns (i.e. verbal nouns). These specific examples were chosen because in English, the infinitive form of the verb carries with it the particle "to" which functions not as a preposition but as a marker for the infinitive form of the verb. Similarly, the so-called "personal a" functions in Spanish not as a preposition but as a marker for the direct object. I was hoping that these comparative similarity might be evident enough from the examples to be of use in the discussion above.

In any case, I would suggest that you research this concept further on your own, as I believe it beyond my own abilities to explain this concept any better than I have. You might try the following web address:

http://acebo.pntic.mec.es/~aromer3/Lengua/Oraciones adverbiales I/contenido_de_subordinadas_adverb.htm

Specifically, the section entitled: LA ELISIÓN DE LOS ELEMENTOS EN LA COMPARACIÓN. ORACIONES COMPARATIVAS Y SINTAGMAS COMPARATIVOS

Alternatively, you might try a search using such phrases as "sintagmas comparativas" or "comparación de desigualidad" (or similar such terms).

Thank you for all of this. You are right in your sentences the verbs are being used as gerunds, thus nouns. I will look at your references. Again thanik you. - gringojrf, Oct 7, 2013

Hola, Observer. Please click my question again. I have further questions. - joygogo, Oct 7, 2013

Answer 11

Hola, Observer,

First, I would like to say “Muchas gracias” for your making great efforts to explain this question to me. Actually, I have the same question as gringojrf does. Since I just a beginner, I am not able to read those references written in Spanish you mentioned here. So, let me ask some further questions instead in order to solve my puzzles.

(1) Do you mean that “David ama su esposa” can be interpreted as either “David loves his wife” or “His wife loves David” when people see it at first sight? In order to make this sentence clearer, we need to use personal “a” to tell readers/listeners “who loves whom”, right?

(2) How to say “David loves her more than himself” and “David loves his wife more than himself” respectively in Spanish? I need these two sentences in order to tell where to place these direct object pronouns.

(3) “Su propia vida” is not a person, but an object, so do you mean the reason why personal “a” is still used in this sentence is because of the parallel constructions?

(4) After reading the dialogue between you and gringojrf, I want to make sure which of the sentences gringojrf asked is/are correct. Por favor!

David la ama más que frijoles.

David la ama más que a frijoles.

David ama frijoles más que a su esposa.

David ama a frijoles más que a su esposa.