What does 'a' between two names mean?

Question

For example, what does this translate to in English?

"¿Qué le pide Emilio a Natalia?"

Welcome to the forum , we want to help you so fill out your profile If you have a problem PM a mod Bienvenido al foro. Queremos ayudarle, entonces hay que llenar su perfil. Si hay un problema, envíe un mensaje personal (PM) - ray76, Jan 26, 2016

It would be much easier for us to answer you when we know which language is your native language and which you are learning and their relative levels . Thank you . - ray76, Jan 26, 2016

When you get back to me in a comment and fill out your profile, you'll get my vote. - Daniela2041, Jan 26, 2016

@Ray76: I put a lot of effort into this for the sake of the members and have gotten two great responses so far. - Daniela2041, Jan 26, 2016

Answer 1

Spanish is the only language I know of that uses the indirect object AND an indirect object pronoun in the same sentence.

¿Qué le pide Emilio a Natalia?

In English this would be, What is Emilio asking Natalia?

The extra "le" means "to her" or "of her", or even "to or of him" Inasmuch as "le" can mean various things, the "clarifier", the "a" which is not needed in English, is thrown in to indicate that Emilio is asking Natalia something.

This is the most complicated thing that students have to deal with in first semester Spanish. It's not quite as hard if you have had sufficient teaching leading up to it.

Again. If you don't translate the "le" the "a" functions as a "personal a" which we don't have in English. Weird, huh? I'm glad I learned this as a child.

Here's a link to an article on indirect object pronouns.

indirect object pronouns

Here's a quick chart illustrating the your type of sentence. Notice the use of the indirect object PLUS the indirect object pronoun.

Now after all this, do you think that you could please fill out your profile? It's not only the courteous thing to do, but it helps us to know your levels of English and Spanish so we can answer your questions better. Muchísimas gracias.

Gracias por una buena explicación, Daniela. I've been studying Spanish long enough to know that indirect object pronouns are used even when the indirect object is explicitly stated, but I still struggle to remember that sometimes. - canuckmarc, Jan 26, 2016

Thanks, Daniela. I'm just learning this on my Fluencia lessons. :) Yes, it's difficult, but not impossible. - Findy, Jan 26, 2016

Oy this is the same thing I am learning in my Spanish class to - Nickelbackfan1, Jan 26, 2016