Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Glossary of grammatical terms
- Note on the text
- Short bibliography
- 1 Alphabet, spelling and pronunciation (Alfabeto, ortografía y pronunciación)
- 2 Definite and indefinite articles and gender of nouns (Artículos definidos e indefinidos y género de sustantivos)
- 3 Number (El plural)
- 4 Verbs (Los verbos)
- 5 Perfect tense and pluperfect tense (El [pretérito] perfecto y el pluscuamperfecto / antecopretérito [M])
- 6 Future tense and future perfect tense (El tiempo futuro y el futuro perfecto)
- 7 Imperfect tense (El tiempo imperfecto/copretérito [M])
- 8 Preterit tense or past definite (El pretérito indefinido / pretérito perfecto simple)
- 9 Conditional tense (El tiempo condicional)
- 10 Progressive tense or gerund (El tiempo progresivo o el gerundio)
- 11 The imperative mood (El modo imperativo)
- 12 Irregular verbs (Los verbos irregulares)
- 13 Ser and estar (Ser y estar)
- 14 Transitive and intransitive verbs, and reflexive verbs (Los verbos transitivos e intransitivos, y los verbos reflexivos)
- 15 Impersonal verbs (Los verbos impersonales)
- 16 Subjunctive (El subjuntivo)
- 17 Personal pronouns (Los pronombres personales)
- 18 Possessive adjectives and pronouns, relative and interrogative pronouns (Los adjetivos y pronombres posesivos, los pronombres relativos e interrogativos)
- 19 Indefinite pronouns (Los pronombres indefinidos)
- 20 Demonstrative adjectives and pronouns (Los adjetivos y pronombres demostrativos)
- 21 Adjectives (Los adjetivos)
- 22 Personal or distinctive a (La preposiciónacon el complemento directo)
- 23 Prepositions (Las preposiciones)
- 24 Prepositions por and para (Las preposiciones por y para)
- 25 Adverbs (Los adverbios)
- 26 Interrogative and negative sentences (Las frases interrogativas y negativas)
- 27 Numbers and measurements. Time and dimensions (Los números y las medidas. El tiempo [duración = la hora] y las dimensiones)
- 28 Comparatives and superlatives (Los comparativos y superlativos)
- 29 Word order (El orden de las palabras)
- 30 Augmentatives and diminutives (Los aumentativos y diminutivos)
- Model answers / Soluciones y modelos
- Index of grammar and vocabulary
- Subjunctive index
22 - Personal or distinctive a (La preposiciónacon el complemento directo)
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Glossary of grammatical terms
- Note on the text
- Short bibliography
- 1 Alphabet, spelling and pronunciation (Alfabeto, ortografía y pronunciación)
- 2 Definite and indefinite articles and gender of nouns (Artículos definidos e indefinidos y género de sustantivos)
- 3 Number (El plural)
- 4 Verbs (Los verbos)
- 5 Perfect tense and pluperfect tense (El [pretérito] perfecto y el pluscuamperfecto / antecopretérito [M])
- 6 Future tense and future perfect tense (El tiempo futuro y el futuro perfecto)
- 7 Imperfect tense (El tiempo imperfecto/copretérito [M])
- 8 Preterit tense or past definite (El pretérito indefinido / pretérito perfecto simple)
- 9 Conditional tense (El tiempo condicional)
- 10 Progressive tense or gerund (El tiempo progresivo o el gerundio)
- 11 The imperative mood (El modo imperativo)
- 12 Irregular verbs (Los verbos irregulares)
- 13 Ser and estar (Ser y estar)
- 14 Transitive and intransitive verbs, and reflexive verbs (Los verbos transitivos e intransitivos, y los verbos reflexivos)
- 15 Impersonal verbs (Los verbos impersonales)
- 16 Subjunctive (El subjuntivo)
- 17 Personal pronouns (Los pronombres personales)
- 18 Possessive adjectives and pronouns, relative and interrogative pronouns (Los adjetivos y pronombres posesivos, los pronombres relativos e interrogativos)
- 19 Indefinite pronouns (Los pronombres indefinidos)
- 20 Demonstrative adjectives and pronouns (Los adjetivos y pronombres demostrativos)
- 21 Adjectives (Los adjetivos)
- 22 Personal or distinctive a (La preposiciónacon el complemento directo)
- 23 Prepositions (Las preposiciones)
- 24 Prepositions por and para (Las preposiciones por y para)
- 25 Adverbs (Los adverbios)
- 26 Interrogative and negative sentences (Las frases interrogativas y negativas)
- 27 Numbers and measurements. Time and dimensions (Los números y las medidas. El tiempo [duración = la hora] y las dimensiones)
- 28 Comparatives and superlatives (Los comparativos y superlativos)
- 29 Word order (El orden de las palabras)
- 30 Augmentatives and diminutives (Los aumentativos y diminutivos)
- Model answers / Soluciones y modelos
- Index of grammar and vocabulary
- Subjunctive index
Summary
Level 1
1.1 Personalawhen used for persons (La preposiciónacon un complemento directo)
1.2 Personalawhen used with collective nouns (La a con nombres colectivos)
1.3 Personalawhen used with animals (La a con animales)
1.4 Personalawhen used with proper names (La a con nombres propios)
1.5 When personalais not used (Cuando no se usa la a)
Personal a when used for persons
In English, the distinction between a noun as subject and a noun as object is shown by its location in the sentence. In John reads the book, John is the subject and book is the object. John comes before book. In Latin, this was shown by what we call case endings; that is to say the endings of words changed according to their relationship with each other, and word order was not so important. In Spanish, and much more than in French or English, but similar to Italian, location has about as little effect on the meaning as in Latin. Many Spanish speakers can find themselves therefore in considerable difficulty in distinguishing between subject and object, and do not always succeed as clearly as we do in English or French.
The only device in Spanish for distinguishing a noun as direct object when referring to persons is by placing the preposition a before it.
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- Information
- A Student Grammar of Spanish , pp. 198 - 204Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2006