11 Challenging Words Starting With A for Spanish Students

Here are 11 words beginning with A that can pose some difficulty for Spanish students. Learn these, and youll be well on your way to improving your use of the language. a: As a common preposition, a has at least six uses. It usually means to but can also be translated by other prepositions or used as a type of connecting word. Sometimes, as with the personal a, it need not be translated at all. No fuimos a la playa. We didnt go to the beach. Llegamos a Guatemala a las 17 horas. We arrive in Guatemala at 5 p.m. Conocà ­ a la superestrella en Buenos Aires. I met the superstar in Buenos Aires. adonde and adà ³nde: Adonde and adà ³nde usually mean where, but only in cases where to where or some variation of that could be substituted in translation. In other words adà ³nde functions much as a dà ³nde would and indicates motion to a place or in a direction. Es una pequeà ±a playa pà ºblica adonde mis padres nos llevaban en verano. Its a small public beach (to) where my parents took us in summer.  ¿Quà © pasa si adà ³nde viajamos es otro planeta? What happens if where were traveling (to) is another planet? al: Al is one of Spanishs few contractions, combining a and el, a word for the. When al means to the, its use is straightforward. However, al followed by an infinitive is a common way of explaining that something happened after the action represented by the infinitive. Paulina y yo vamos al zoo para ver los animales. Paulina and I are going to the zoo to see the animals. Me alegrà © al encontrar algunos de mis amigos en el centro. I became happy when I found some of my friends downtown. aparentemente: Depending on the context, aparentemente can suggest more strongly than does the English apparently that things may not be what they seem. Està ¡ aparentemente feliz, pero està ¡ a punto de pedirle el divorcio. Shes supposedly happy, but shes on the verge of asking him for the divorce. apologà ­a: An apologà ­a is a defense of a position, as in a legal case or an argument. It is not used to express regret. No hay apologà ­a del terrorismo. There is no defense for terrorism. asistir: Although asistir can mean to assist, it much more often means to attend a gathering or event. Gracias a todos que asistieron mi concierto anoche. Thanks to everyone who attended my concert last night. El gobierno le asistià ³ con una pensià ³n hasta el final de sus dà ­as. The government assisted him with a pension until the end of his days. atender: Atender can mean to attend in the sense of attending to someone but not in the sense of attending an event. El doctor atendià ³ al futbolista en el hospital durante su grave enfermedad. The doctor attended to the soccer player during his serious illness. aun and aà ºn: Although aun and aà ºn are both adverbs, the first is usually used to indicate even as in the examples below, while the latter usually indicates an action continues and can be translated as still or yet. Aun este aà ±o no tengo nada. Even this year I dont have anything. Ni aun yo puedo entenderlos. Not even I can understand them. He configurado mi dispositivo, pero aà ºn no puedo usar la internet. I have configured my device, but I still cant use the Internet. Or, I have configured my device, but I cant use the Internet yet. aunque: Aunque is the most common way of saying although; often it is better translated even though or even if. If the verb that follows refers to something that already happened or is happening, it must be in the indicative mood, while a verb referring to the future or a hypothetical event must be in the subjunctive. Todo està ¡ bien aunque me tragaron los mosquitos cuando me fui de camping. Everything is fine even though the mosquitoes ate me up when I went camping. (Tragaron is in the indicative because it refers to a past event.) Crean una pila que no hace daà ±o aunque los nià ±os la traguen. They are developing a battery that causes no harm even if children swallow it. (Traguen is in the subjunctive mood because the event is yet to happen or is theoretical.) Sources: Sample sentences have been adapted from the following sources: TripAdvisor.es, Diario Norte, Marcianitos Verdes, Facebook conversations, El Zol 107.9, Zendesk, Goal.com, La Nacià ³n (Argentina), Twitter conversations, Cuba Encuentro, LaInformacià ³n.com and Diario Correo (Peru).