Faltar a
 

I am looking at the following sample sentence: "Falto a mi trabajo a menudo."

Why is the first "a" there? I don't believe that "faltar" is one of those verbs that requires an "a"..... :thinking:

Faltar a = fail to go, be absent from, miss, contravene, offend:

Falto al trabajo = I fail to go or I'm absent from my work.

No puedes faltar a las leyes = you can't contravene the laws.

Me ha faltado al respeto = He's offended me

Faltar = lack, be missing, be absent, be not enough, become scarce:

Aquí falta algo = something is lacking here.
Falta Lou Ann = Lou Ann is not here/ is absent
Me falta dinero = I don't have enough money.
:)

I understand each of your examples, but I don't really see the difference... Hmmm... Am I getting into some language technicalities that are beyond my learning level at this point?

What can I say? :thinking:

No, you just need to process it. :)

You can write some sentences with "faltar" and "faltar a". We'll correct them. :)

faltar a
 

That's amazing! I would never have said that!
I always thought it was

Me ha faltado el respeto

Or is that possible too?
And if so, does it change the meaning at all?

Many thanks for the clear examples.

No, you can't say "me ha faltado el respeto". You could use the article in a sentence like this:

En esta oficina falta el respeto = Respect is lacking in this office.

But in "faltar al respeto a alguien" the preposition is needed.

Maybe you can find it without preposition, but surely you'll find "preveer" instead of "prever", too. These are common mistakes (not good to my ears, by the way). :worried: :)

Great!
This is like when I learnt it was El bocata NOT La bocata. Years of saying the wrong thing, and finally you learn the right way!

Look in that phrase the word A is necessary.

Falto a mi trabajo a menudo.
I fault my work very often

Because if you don't place the A it'll sound so.
Falto mi trabajo a menudo.

As you can see the last sentence is bad written.
Therefore often the word A in those kind sentences are necessary.