Use of the personal "a"

David M.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

Use of the personal "a"

The construction "... te permitirá conocer personas" reminded me that the personal "a" is inserted only if the object of the verb is a known human being - specifically identified .. Thank you !

[I am sure this is mentioned somewhere in one of your lessons, is it?]

Asked 2 years ago
InmaKwiziq team memberCorrect answer

Hola David

We don't have at the moment any lesson with test-questions on these specific cases of omission or presence of the personal a, other than this basic lesson.

You can find the very specific information on R.A.E about the cases where it is compulsary to use "a", cases where you can't, and cases where you can choose to use it or omit it; the latter is the case of this sentence that you found: "te permitirá conocer personas". 

I am copying the extract from R.A.E that refers to this specific case:

b) Con verbos como contratar, llevar, traer, etc., así como con los verbos de percepción ver y conocer, el complemento directo de persona desempeñado por un nombre común puede aparecer con preposición o sin ella. Como en el caso anterior (→ a), la presencia de la preposición implica un mayor grado de especificidad o concreción del referente del complemento en la mente del hablante: Han contratado (a) un nuevo colaborador; Llevaré (a) unos amigos a la fiesta; Trajo (a) una mujer que no conocíamos; Pondré (a) varios jugadores en el centro del campo; Vi (a) algunos niños escalando la tapia; Conocí (a) una persona encantadora. Con nombres propios es obligatoria la preposición: Han contratado a María; Trajo a Juan, etc.

For the whole article in R.A.E about the personal "a", have a look here. This bit of information for this specific case is on section 1.2 DOBLE USO b/ 

I hope it helps.

Saludos

Inma

Use of the personal "a"

The construction "... te permitirá conocer personas" reminded me that the personal "a" is inserted only if the object of the verb is a known human being - specifically identified .. Thank you !

[I am sure this is mentioned somewhere in one of your lessons, is it?]

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