The personal A!

Question

Hi SpanishDicters, Just seeking to clarify a point on the personal A. When using a sentence with 2 clauses and the second clause has a named person, do they need the personal A?

Hola SpanishDictadores, Intento clarificar algo sobre la personal A. Cuando se uso una oración con dos cláusulas y la segunda cláusula tiene una persona llamada, necisita la personal A?

Examples:

I hope Anna arrives soon

Espero que Anna llegue pronto OR Espero que a Anna llegue pronto

The first one sounds right to me, but I couldn't explain why not to use the personal A.

La primera me parece correcta, pero no podría explicar porque

http://www.spanishdict.com/answers/281854/the-personal-a-.preposition-not-often-translated-to-english#q281854 - ray76, Oct 19, 2016

Answer 1

The personal a only refers to a direct object. When the person is a direct object, they get a personal a.

Veo algo, veo a una persona. The person is the direct object.

In the sentence you give, Anna is the subject of llegar, not you- she is not the object. There is no call for a personal a when the person is the subject of a sentence.

Anna llega pronto.

Espero que Anna llegue pronto.

Likewise when a person is the object of a preposition:

Juego al básquetbol con Juan. No personal a here. The a in al is a preposition associated with the use of the verb.

In the case of an indirect object, technically it is not a personal a, but there will not be a naked name in that position, there will be some preposition involved:

Se lo di a Juan. I gave it to Juan. Se=le= a Juan (indirect object). lo= what I gave him (direct object). Di is the preterit for I gave.

Thanks! I needed that clarification of direct object versus subject. - ssha345, Oct 19, 2016

De nada. :) - bosquederoble, Oct 19, 2016

If things are starting to sound right and wrong to you, that is better than knowing the rules (because it can happen at speech speed). But it is nice to know the rules to back up your instincts. :) - bosquederoble, Oct 19, 2016

Answer 2

What you have here is two distinct clauses, each with a subject.

"I hope" and "Anna arrives here." There is no direct object. There is a relative pronoun which is "that" (Spanish "que".) Because the first clause is a desire the second clause has to be in the subjunctive which you already know. This is why:

"Espero que Anna llegue pronto." is correct.

Answer 3

What you have here is two distinct clauses, each with a subject.

"I hope" and "Anna arrives here." There is no direct object. There is a relative pronoun which is "that" (Spanish "que".) Because the first clause is a desire the second clause has to be in the subjunctive which you already know. This is why:

"Espero que Anna llegue pronto." is correct.

I don't know how this second answer got on here. Please delete. - Daniela2041, Oct 19, 2016