El "a" Personal

In Spanish when people are the direct objects of verbs, we need to put an "a" in front of them. Direct objects are nouns that are affected directly by verbs. They receive the action of the verb. Look at the first sentence in the table below. "Janet" is the direct object because she is what (who) I "see".

In the meantime, Direct objects can be things or people; but the personal "a" is used only when the direct object is a person. We put an "a" in front of the noun when it refers to a specific person or specific people;

People:

Veo a Janet los lunes.	I see Janet on Mondays.
Franchesca llama a su esposo cada día.	Franchesca calls her husband every day.
Visitamos a nuestros abuelos.	We visit our grandparents.
Quiero mucho a Keanu.	I love Keanu a lot.

Things: We do not use the Personal "a" with things, places or actions.

Veo la bicicleta.	I see the bicycle.
Franchesca llama por teléfono.	Franchesca makes a phone call.
Visitamos la universidad.	We visit the university.
Quiero mucho Lucky Charms.	I love Lucky Charms a lot.

The Personal a is not used when you are referring to an indefinite person (you don't know if such a person exists) or an unspecific person.
For example:

Ana quiere un novio inteligente. Ana hasn't met this intelligent boyfriend yet; but that is the type of boyfriend she wants.

The use of the Indefinite Article un is a clue not to use the Personal a.

If Ana knows the intelligent boyfriend of Susana, we would say, Ana conoce al novio inteligente de Susana.

Don't forget that a + el contracts to form al.

People:

Busco al dependiente.	I'm looking for the sales clerk.
Miro al primo de Mauricio.	I'm looking at Maurice's cousin.

Things: No personal "a" needed here!

Busco el bolígrafo de mi hermana.	I'm looking for my sister's pen.
Miro el programa de Animal Planet.	I'm watching the Animal Planet program.

Don't use the personal "a" with Tener:

Tengo dos hijos.

I have two kids.

When asking a question about a person as a direct object, we need to include the "a" before quiénes:

¿A quién llama Sara?	Whom is Sara calling?
¿A quiénes visitas?	Whom are you visiting?

For more information:

Direct Objects and direct object pronouns

Indirect Objects and indirect object pronouns

Prepositional pronouns

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