#personal a

In this case it depends. The a is considered technically more correct

When your direct object is a person/animate object (or sometimes a personified object), you also add a - it denotes personhood, so it's commonly called "personal a"

Some examples:

dar de comer al perro = to feed the dog [lit. "to give of food/feeding to the dog] No debes juzgar a los demás. = You shouldn't judge others. Siempre ayudan a la gente. = They always help people. Siempre rescatan a la gente. = They always rescue people. Siempre salvan a la gente. = They always save people. La Biblia dice que debemos perdonar a nuestros enemigos. = The Bible says we should forgive our enemies. Conocimos a mucha gente. = We met a lot of people. Cuido a los niños. = I take care of children. Cuido a los animales. = I take care of animals. Cuido a los ancianos. = I take care of the elderly. Cuido a los demás. = I take care of others. Cuido a mi pareja. = I take care of my partner. Cuido a mi marido. = I take care of my husband. Cuido a mi mujer. = I take care of my wife. Cuido a mis abuelos. = I take care of my grandparents. Cuido a mis hijos/hijas. = I take care of my children.

...And so on. That a is that personal a

There are times when a gets used with certain verbs, but that's a separate thing - though you will see things like llegar a conocer a otros "to come to know others", where llegar a is "to come to + infinitive", while conocer "to know/meet" is a verb that takes a with animate objects

The personal a is considered the most correct and it is preferable that you use it, but just know that if you do miss it, it's not like it changes things so much that people don't understand you. In anything official like writing or reading, they will use the personal a. So I'm not saying it's not important, but just know you aren't being misunderstood because you miss a particle here

[I will say that there are a handful of verbs where changing the preposition will change the meaning - as an example vengar a alguien is "to avenge someone"; while vengarse de alguien is "to take revenge on someone"... so if you're trying to do something for someone who was wronged, you see the a... but if you're trying to punish the person responsible it's reflexive and uses de]

It can be a bit confusing for non-native speakers to come to understand what verbs would use it and which ones maybe don't; and I still struggle with it every so often

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As far as trae vs. está trayendo it's a matter of preference/style here

But first some basic things

First, you're right trae can be used in place of está trayendo

Second, trayendo is a form of traer called gerundio which is like "gerund/progressive", or the -ing form of a verb... most end in -ando or -iendo, traer is a bit weirder in that it ends in -yendo

...

Now this goes back to the first point - present tense has three general functions: regular declarative statements, present continuous, and short-term future

Meaning that trae could be interpreted as "brings", "is bringing", or "plans to bring / will bring (shortly)"

The gerundio form is ALWAYS continuous and implies movement or continuous motion, usually used with estar or a verb of motion

Simply put trae can be "brings" OR "is bringing"

But está trayendo is ONLY "is bringing"

...Whichever one you choose is up to you, to me the use of gerundio feels more like immediate motion like "currently"

Different issues at play here, but first:

The concept is known as the "personal a" which is to say that when you're using a verb with a person or animate object [including pets and sometimes even companies/corporations], the a is used to show personhood to direct objects

It's not specifically like it translates differently, just that it's standard grammar:

Veo el restaurante. = I see the restaurant. Veo la farmacia. = I see the pharmacy. Veo al hombre. = I see the man. Veo a la mujer. = I see the woman.

In the case of ayudar you need to use a with la familia because la familia is the direct object [the one who receives the action of the verb]

This will also apply to pets, and sometimes animals like dar de comer al perro is "to feed the dog"

[note: a is also used with indirect objects but it's a bit different grammatically; a here is used to show to whom for whom an action is done, not receiving the action of the verbs... so mandar(le) la carta a la abuela "to send the letter to the grandmother" has la carta as the direct object, and la abuela as the indirect object aka the recipient or destination]

The Personal A in Spanish

La A personal en español

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Second issue I have to bring up is that some verbs take particular prepositions in Spanish [a, de, en, con, or por]... it's not really about a different translation, it's just what they take and sometimes they're different than how we'd translate it in Spanish

Like soñar "to dream" takes con, soñar con algo/alguien is "to dream of/about something/someone", though in normal Spanish con is "with"

ayudar is one of the verbs that takes a so it's not always about the personal a, sometimes it's just the grammar quirk of a prepositional verb. You could use it as "to help to (do something)"

ayudar a entender = to help understand ayudar a leer = to help read ayudar a aprender = to help learn Ayudamos a los estudiantes a aprender español. = We help students learn Spanish.

You can string together a longer sentence with more a's depending on the verbs: ayudamos a los estudiantes a acostumbrarse a la vida en la universidad "we help students get used to college life"

Where ayudar takes a for los estudiantes and also for the next verb; and then acostumbrarse "to get used to / to become accustomed to" ALSO takes a as a preposition

Commonly Used Spanish Verbs with Prepositions

Grammar: Verbs with Prepositions

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a can be quite a difficult one depending on how it's used

Especially with verbs of motion or transportation, a is used for directionality: voy al hospital, vamos a la playa, viajamos a España

It's one of the most common prepositions, and it can be used in certain idiomatic expressions like a veces "sometimes" or a menudo "often"... in which case it could be used anywhere an adverb can be used.

When being used with verbs that use it as prepositions, it will go right after that verb: ayudar a entender, acostumbrarse a la vida, empiezo a comer etc

When being used with direct objects that are people, it precedes the direct object. That means it usually goes after the verb and before the object: ayudamos a la familia

With being used with indirect objects, this one is more flexible in the syntax. The a with indirect objects is attached to the object itself, so wherever the object is, the a will be. With indirect objects that means it could be at the very beginning of the phrase, or after the verb itself

A quien corresponda... = To whom it concerns... Al señor le gusta. = The man likes it. A la señora le gusta = The woman likes it. [rather than just (le) gusta "he/she likes it", a is often used to show who in particular likes something] Le mando la carta a mi madre. = I am sending the letter to my mother.

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The issue with trying to nail down where to use a is that it depends on how it's being used. It's used in so many situations and contexts that it could really be anywhere depending on the part of speech or object it refers to

My Tag | Preposiciones

Adverbial Expressions with a

Using a

All I can really tell you is that a pretty much NEVER ends the sentence; it is practically unheard of to see a be the last word in a sentence. The only exceptions I can think of are possibly lines of poetry where the sentence is continuing in the next line, or when you see an interruption in dialogue and a - follows

The personal pronoun a, also called “personal a” (by me in things I do) is used when your object is an animate object. You see it used with most verbs that can apply to humans/animals, particularly with direct objects and reflexive verbs. The a does show up with indirect objects, though it’s a little bit different linguistically so I’ll touch on that a little bit.

A brief rundown of what objects are:

Subject verbs an object.

The object is the recipient of an action, and when you talk about direct objects, they receive the action itself.

For example:

Pateo la pelota. = I kick the ball.

The “I” is the subject, “kick” is the verb, and “ball” is the object.

Where it becomes a little more particular is when your object is actually a person or animal… generally it’s any living thing, but specifically people. Some people don’t use the personal a with animals except pets, which shows more affection and attachment to a pet…. as in dar de comer al perro “to feed the dog”, dar de comer al gato “to feed the cat”, or dar de comer a las mascotas “to feed pets”

So instead of the “ball” say it’s “I kick my sister”:

Pateo a mi hermana. = I kick my sister.

“my sister” is the object, but it’s a person now, so you add the a to make sure people know it’s a person.

The same sort of thing exists for a lot of verbs that can take people or inanimate objects; buscar, esperar, conocer, querer, amar, encontrar, golpear, castigar, dañar, hacer, ver, invitar, visitar, matar, juzgar, herir, perseguir, criticar, defender, proteger, acosar, llamar… and many other verbs

They sometimes show up with direct object pronouns me, te, lo/la, los/las, nos, os but the premise is still the same, the personal a goes in front of the object that is a person.

They also sometimes exist with reflexive verbs, but that’s almost entirely done for emphasis since it’s usually clear who the person and object are in reflexives.

Conozco a ella. = I know her.La conozco. = I know her.

Conozco a él. = I know him.Lo conozco. = I know him.

Puedo ver a tu abuelo. = I can see your grandfather.Puedo ver a tu prima. = I can see your cousin (f).Puedo verte (a ti). = I can see you.

Lo quiero a él. = I love him.La quiero a ella. = I love her.

Llamo a mi jefe. = I’m calling my boss.Llamo a mi jefa. = I’m calling my boss (f).Llamo a la policía. = I’m calling the police.Llamo a los bomberos. = I’m calling the firefighters.Llamo al hospital. = I’m calling the hospital.Llamo a los médicos. = I’m calling the doctors.Llamo a una ambulancia. = I’m calling an ambulance.

Estoy buscando a tu padre. = I’m looking for your father.Busco a tu padre. = I’m looking for your father. / I look for your father.Encontré a tu padre. = I found your father.

Espero a tu madre. = I’m waiting for your mother. / I’m expecting your mother.

No quiero juzgar a nadie. = I don’t want to judge anyone.Es fácil juzgar a la gente. = It’s easy to judge people.

Ayuda al gobierno. = It helps the government.Ayuda a la sociedad. = It helps society.Ayuda a la policía. = It helps the police.Ayuda a los refugiados. = It helps refugees.Ayuda a los pacientes. = It helps patients.Ayuda a los demás. = It helps (the) others.Ayuda a todos los demás. = It helps everyone else.

Castiga al pueblo. = It punishes the people/community/town.Castiga a las mujeres. = It punishes women.Castiga a la gente. = It punishes people.Castiga a muchas personas. = It punishes a lot of people.Castiga a poca gente. = It punishes very few people.Castiga a la comunidad. = It punishes the community.Castiga a todos. = It punishes everyone.Castiga a todo el mundo. = It punishes everyone. [more general, lit. “the whole world”]Nos castiga a todos. = It punishes all of us. / It punishes us all.

Otorga el derecho a la gente. = It grants people the right.Otorga el derecho a las mujeres al votar. = It grants women the right to vote.[el derecho a hacer algo is “the right to do something”, so it’s al votar because of that; an entirely separate function of a]

¡Cómo te atreves a hacerme esto a mí! = How dare you do this to me!

No te engañes a ti mismo/a. = Don’t fool yourself. / Don’t lie to yourself.

Se miente a sí mismo. = He’s lying to himself.Se miente a sí misma. = She’s lying to herself.El equipo se miente a sí mismo. = The team is lying to themselves.La gente se miente a sí misma. = People lie to themselves.

Me traiciono a mí mismo/a. = I’m betraying myself.Te traicionas a ti mismo/a. = You’re betraying yourself.Se traiciona a sí mismo. = He’s betraying himself himself.Se traiciona a sí misma. = She’s betraying herself herself.Se traicionan a sí mismos. = They’re betraying themselves.Se traicionan a sí mismas. = They’re (f) betraying themselves.Nos traicionamos a nosotros mismos. = We’re betraying ourselves.Nos traicionamos a nosotras mismas. = We’re (f) betraying ourselves.

With some inanimate objects, the a isn’t always included. It gets included when it’s understood as particularly strong.

salvar el mundo = to save the world [not as strong]salvar al mundo = to save the world [stronger, and more common]

dañar la reputación = to damage (someone’s) reputationdañar a la reputación = to damage (someone’s) reputation [stronger]

This also applies to brand names, cities, and countries and other proper nouns

Barcelona derrota a Madrid. = Barcelona defeats Madrid.Madrid derrota a Barcelona. = Madrid defeats Barcelona.

Brasil ayuda a Argentina. = Brazil helps Argentina.Argentina ayuda a Brasil. = Argentina helps Brazil.

Desafía a Google. = He/She/It is defying Google.Elogia a Google. = He/She/It is praising Google.

With indirect objects, the a is a little bit different grammatically. Indirect objects show to whom or for whom something is done, so the a doesn’t really mark someone as the person who is experiencing the action of a result… for indirect objects, it’s showing to whom something was directed.

This makes more sense for verbs like mandar, enviar, corresponder, dar and the a is used in cases where the recipient isn’t obvious, or when it is obvious it comes across as very emphatic.

A quien corresponda… = To whom it concerns…

Me lo mandas (a mí). = You’re sending it to me. [a mí is “to ME” and very clear emphasis]

Te lo mando (a ti). = I’m sending it to you. [a ti is “to YOU” as in specification or clarification]

In the last two examples, these make more sense contextually if you think about it like two people talking and it’s like, “Who do I send this to again?” “You send it to ME”

Otherwise, te lo mando “I’m sending it to you” makes perfect sense on its own. Saying te lo mando a ti is like “I’m sending it to YOU” like someone asked or was unclear about something.

It becomes more necessary to specify when you deal with indirect objects + direct objects with 3rd person: se lo doy “I’m giving it to him/her/you/them”… because it could literally apply to anyone. Saying se lo doy a ellos is “I’m giving it to them”, or se lo doy a ella is “I’m giving it to her”… this helps you clarify who your intended recipient actually is.

Along the same lines, you have verbs that work like gustar which usually get translated a little differently; gustar is “to like” but more literally it’s “to please”, and the a is used as emphasis or clarification in the same way:

Me gusta el libro. = I like the book. [lit. “the book pleases me”]A mí me gusta el libro. = I’m the one who likes the book.

Te gustan los libros. = You like the books. [lit. “the books please you”]A ti te gustan los libros. = You’re the one who likes the books.

These make more sense in context, like if you have to correct someone or you’re being specific like:

-¿A quién le importa? = Who cares?-­¡A mí me importa! / ­¡A mí! = I care! / I do!

-¿A tu familia no le gusta la comida china? = Your family doesn’t like Chinese food?-A mis padres no, pero a mí sí. = My parents don’t, but I do.