Weird usage of the "personal a"
2
votes
Normally the word, "a," is only used before a direct object when that object is a person or treated like a person. However, when I was reading an article in El Pais it said, "¿Prefieres al titular de la sub-21 que al de la absoluta?" Why is "al" used here? Thanks in advance!
762 views
updated Mar 11, 2014
posted by Tyler04
1 Answer
1
vote
The first "al" in the sentence is a contraction of "a" (personal) + "el" (the) which is an article before "titular" (the owner). Since the owner is a person, the personal "a" can be used there, and can also function to show affection or special emotional attachment to the owner. The second "al" is a contraction of "a" (to) + "el" (a redundancy avoiding way of not saying "the owner" twice in the sentence). The second "a" is not a personal "a". It just means "to".
updated Mar 11, 2014
posted by Esteban3304
Ah, ok thank you. Your super-quick answer means that I'm now going to get my Spanish homework finished on time. I really appreciate it! - Tyler04, Mar 11, 2014
De nada. :-) - Esteban3304, Mar 11, 2014
