"¡Elige alguien a ser capitán"

Question

¡Elige alguien a ser capitán!

Hello all my attempt to construct a sentence. "Choose someone to be captain. Please correct.

Thank you

Answer 1

Elige a alguien para ser capitán.

When in English you use "to" meaning " in order to" it's "para".

I eat ( in order) to survive. Como para sobrevivir.

They work ( in order) to have money. Ellos trabajan para tener dinero.

You study (in order) to pass the exam. Tú estudias para pasar el examen.

etc.

And with some verbs, where the "to" doesn't mean "in order to" you can just follow the conjugated verb with the infinitive without any preposition. Quiero ser doctor. I want to be a doctor. - DilKen, Apr 13, 2017

Answer 2

I'll take a crack, but no guarantees, I'm still learning.

¡Elige a alguien para ser capitán!

People often want to use "a" to equate to the "to" in "to be" This is usually wrong.

Keep in mind that ser = to be, ser <> be.

Look up "para" in the SD dictionary, definition #2, use before an infinitive (which is what ser is) and you'll see why I think it should be used before ser in this case.

The "a" before alguien is the so called "personal a" which is normally used before alguien when alguien is a direct object, as it is here.

At least that's my thinking. As I said on top, I could be wrong.

thanks ken - Wannalearn, Apr 13, 2017

How about a vote, mate :) - DilKen, Apr 13, 2017