Spanish Preposition 'A' Has Multiple Uses . Spanish grammar for the masses !
Preposition"A"Has multiple uses
See the three ways in which the preposition a is used in this selection.
Excerpt from a news feature:
Imagine que unos amigos le invitan a su casa a cenar. El plato principal es un estofado de carne que huele fenomenal y está delicioso. Mientras lo disfruta le pregunta a sus anfitriones por la receta. "Coges un kilo de carne de Golden retriever, marinada desde la noche...", le contesta su amigo. "¿¿Golden retriever??" Si usted es como la mayoría de las personas que viven en Occidente, probablemente se sentirá mal ante la idea de estar comiéndose un perro cocinado. Incluso sentirá asco, "porque los perros no se comen".
Suggested translation:
Imagine that some friends invite you to their house for dinner. The main dish is a meat stew that smells phenomenal and is delicious. While you enjoy it you ask your hosts for the recipe. "You take a kilogram of golden retriever marinated overnight ..." your friend answers. "Golden retriever?" If you are like the majority of persons who live in the West, you probably would feel bad facing the idea of eating a cooked dog. You would probably even feel nauseous, "because dogs aren't eaten."
Key grammatical issue:
This paragraph shows three distinctive uses for a. Although "to" is the most common translation for a, it often isn't the most suitable.
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In the first instance (le invitan a a su casa, meaning "they invite you to their house"), a is functioning in its most common way, as a preposition indicating direction toward. This is the use that will seem most straightforward to English speakers.
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In the second instance (le invitan ... a cenar, which could be translated literally as "they invite you ... to dine"), the a is following a common pattern in which it comes between a verb and an infinitive. Invitar is one of those verbs — and there's no set rule about which verbs this includes — that usually need an a when an infinitive follows. Other examples of this usage include "Te invitamos a cantar" (We invite you to sing) and "Le invitaron a hablar" (They invited him to speak). Note that in the English translations, "to" doesn't indicate motion toward but rather is used to help form the infinitive. Common verbs that behave similarly and are followed by a when coming before an infinitive include comenzar (to begin), ir (to go), venir (to come) and volver (to return).
(In the suggested translation, "a cenar" was translated as "to dinner" rather than "to dine" in order to maintain a similar voice or level of formality in the two languages.)
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Finally, the third instance (le pregunta a sus anfitriones meaning "you ask your hosts") shows the use of the personal a. Generally, when a verb (in this case pregunta) has a person or persons as an object, the preposition a must come before the object. As in this case, the personal a usually is left untranslated in English.
1 Answer
I love this, Ray! I’ve been struggling with the Spanish preposition “a” for a long time. Your example from a news feature is wonderful and your explanation of the three uses of the preposition “a” is clear and concise!
In review for myself:
Indicates movement, direction, toward something
The preposition “a” is used between a verb and an infinitive
The personal “a”, when the verb has a person or persons as an object
I also found this and I hope it's okay to put it here.
