Answers
Mar 18, 2015 - 09:40 PM
Can you give examples of what gives you difficulties?
Mar 19, 2015 - 05:52 AM
Hi Fabrice,
For example, in the sentence "Van a envier alguien 'a' comprar los boletos" I thought that because the indefinite verb comprar (to buy) you wouldn't need the a? why sometimes you need the a? and others not? did I miss something somewhere? feeling really lost :(
For example, in the sentence "Van a envier alguien 'a' comprar los boletos" I thought that because the indefinite verb comprar (to buy) you wouldn't need the a? why sometimes you need the a? and others not? did I miss something somewhere? feeling really lost :(
Mar 19, 2015 - 08:58 PM
Hi,
there should actually be 3 "a" in this sentence:
1) Van a
2) enviar a alguien
3) a comprar los boletos.
1) The "a" after "van" is necessary because there is movement. Van is the ustedes/ellos/ellas conjugation of the verb "ir", and you always add a "a" to indicate an action to be done or movement, translated by "going to" in english. "ir a mi casa", going to my house. "Van a hacer algo" they're going to do something.
2) I'm not sure if you've seen this yet in 1-5 but the "a" here is called the personal "a". It's explained later if you haven't seen this, don't worry about it.
3) a comprar, that's your main issue. In english, the issue is the same. Look at those sentences:
a) They're going to send someone a card <== enviar is followed by an object. Enviar una carta.
b) They're going to send someone (to do what?) buy a card. <== this is an action, to buy a card. Enviar para comprar.
c) They're going to send someone (to where?) buy a card <== this is your sentence. Enviar a comprar. Here, the "a" becomes movement, not to make the verb an infinitive.
Note that there are also a few verbs that require the "a", but those are different from your case, in that the "a" doesn't imply movement. There is a non-exhaustive list there: http://www.elearnspanishlanguage.com/...
I hope this helps..
there should actually be 3 "a" in this sentence:
1) Van a
2) enviar a alguien
3) a comprar los boletos.
1) The "a" after "van" is necessary because there is movement. Van is the ustedes/ellos/ellas conjugation of the verb "ir", and you always add a "a" to indicate an action to be done or movement, translated by "going to" in english. "ir a mi casa", going to my house. "Van a hacer algo" they're going to do something.
2) I'm not sure if you've seen this yet in 1-5 but the "a" here is called the personal "a". It's explained later if you haven't seen this, don't worry about it.
3) a comprar, that's your main issue. In english, the issue is the same. Look at those sentences:
a) They're going to send someone a card <== enviar is followed by an object. Enviar una carta.
b) They're going to send someone (to do what?) buy a card. <== this is an action, to buy a card. Enviar para comprar.
c) They're going to send someone (to where?) buy a card <== this is your sentence. Enviar a comprar. Here, the "a" becomes movement, not to make the verb an infinitive.
Note that there are also a few verbs that require the "a", but those are different from your case, in that the "a" doesn't imply movement. There is a non-exhaustive list there: http://www.elearnspanishlanguage.com/...
I hope this helps..
Apr 08, 2015 - 03:38 AM
Hi dhannyboy89,
You asked for the different meanings of "que" that we give in the program. You first see it as a question word with an accent in session 3 of level 1:
¿Qué quieren tomar? - What do (they) want to drink?
And in level 2 session 22 you learn that "que" is also used to make comparisons in the sense of "than":
Me gusta este más que ese - I like this one more than that one
In session 23 of level 2 you then see "que" as "that":
¿Esas son las tiendas que vimos la vez pasada? - Those are the stores that (we) saw last time?
There is a quick review of the use of "que" as "that" in session 10 of level 3 and in session 24 of level 3 we introduce "que" as "who":
Y un hombre alto que está con ella - And a tall man who is with her
So "que" is mainly used as what is called a relative pronoun to link two sentences together. In this sense it can be translated as "that" or "who" (or even "which"). It is also used as "than" to make comparisons. And when it carries an accent it's the question word "what".
There are also a number of expressions that need "que" such as "tener que", "parece que" or "creo que". Watch out because, whilst we can somtimes omit "that" or "who" in English, in Spanish we ALWAYS need it to link two sentences together.
As for the use of “a” before some verbs, Fabrice already explained some of it: You know that this “a” is used with verbs of movement to give the direction. So we can say:
Voy a la oficina – (I)’m going to the office
When you have the structure “ir a” directly followed by a verb in the infinitive it is the equivalent of the English going to future. So it would be:
Voy a comprar un libro – (I)’m going to buy a book
Or as in your sentence:
Van a enviar a alguien – (They) are going to send someone
The structure is always “ir + a + verb in infinitive”. There are some other verbs that are always followed by “a” such as “comenzar”. It’s always “comenzar a hacer algo”:
El comienza a trabajar a las ocho – He starts to work at eight
We point these verbs out to you and it’s a good idea to keep a list of verbs that take a specific preposition after them. Watch out because with all other verbs of movement the “a” can also be replaced by “para” if we want to emphasise the fact that the second action is the purpose or goal. So it's "para" in the sense of "in order to":
Van a enviar a alguien a comprar los boletos - (They) are going to send someone to buy the tickets
Or:
Van a enviar a alguien para comprar los boletos - (They) are going to send someone (in order) to buy the tickets
Voy a la oficina a comprar los boletos – (I)’m going to the office to buy the tickets
Or:
Voy a la oficina para comprar los boletos – (I)’m going to the office (in order) to buy the tickets
You asked for the different meanings of "que" that we give in the program. You first see it as a question word with an accent in session 3 of level 1:
¿Qué quieren tomar? - What do (they) want to drink?
And in level 2 session 22 you learn that "que" is also used to make comparisons in the sense of "than":
Me gusta este más que ese - I like this one more than that one
In session 23 of level 2 you then see "que" as "that":
¿Esas son las tiendas que vimos la vez pasada? - Those are the stores that (we) saw last time?
There is a quick review of the use of "que" as "that" in session 10 of level 3 and in session 24 of level 3 we introduce "que" as "who":
Y un hombre alto que está con ella - And a tall man who is with her
So "que" is mainly used as what is called a relative pronoun to link two sentences together. In this sense it can be translated as "that" or "who" (or even "which"). It is also used as "than" to make comparisons. And when it carries an accent it's the question word "what".
There are also a number of expressions that need "que" such as "tener que", "parece que" or "creo que". Watch out because, whilst we can somtimes omit "that" or "who" in English, in Spanish we ALWAYS need it to link two sentences together.
As for the use of “a” before some verbs, Fabrice already explained some of it: You know that this “a” is used with verbs of movement to give the direction. So we can say:
Voy a la oficina – (I)’m going to the office
When you have the structure “ir a” directly followed by a verb in the infinitive it is the equivalent of the English going to future. So it would be:
Voy a comprar un libro – (I)’m going to buy a book
Or as in your sentence:
Van a enviar a alguien – (They) are going to send someone
The structure is always “ir + a + verb in infinitive”. There are some other verbs that are always followed by “a” such as “comenzar”. It’s always “comenzar a hacer algo”:
El comienza a trabajar a las ocho – He starts to work at eight
We point these verbs out to you and it’s a good idea to keep a list of verbs that take a specific preposition after them. Watch out because with all other verbs of movement the “a” can also be replaced by “para” if we want to emphasise the fact that the second action is the purpose or goal. So it's "para" in the sense of "in order to":
Van a enviar a alguien a comprar los boletos - (They) are going to send someone to buy the tickets
Or:
Van a enviar a alguien para comprar los boletos - (They) are going to send someone (in order) to buy the tickets
Voy a la oficina a comprar los boletos – (I)’m going to the office to buy the tickets
Or:
Voy a la oficina para comprar los boletos – (I)’m going to the office (in order) to buy the tickets