Llamar vs llamar a

[LearningSpanish]

According to Rae 'llamar' can be transitive or intransitive.

Transitive when it means to call, intransitive when it means to phone.

I really like to understand the grammar of the Spanish as much as I love to speak it but I'm having a bit of a mental block with this one, so how does that work?

1) If 'llamo a un taxi' (I am calling a taxi) uses the preposition 'a' to introduce the direct object 'un taxi' but it is also possible to say 'llamo un taxi' what
is the taxi, grammatically speaking, in the second example if it's not a direct object?

2) When does the preposition 'a' have to introduce direct objects that aren't people or personalized animals, countries etc? Does this only happen with certain verbs or what connection am I missing?

Thanks in advance for any enlightenment

[Rusty]

The verb 'llamar', when used transitively, takes a direct object. 'Taxi' is the direct object in the sentences you posted in question 1. Some people throw in the 'a'. It isn't necessary in your examples.

However, because Spanish has a more flexible word order, it is possible that the listener can't tell the difference between the subject and the direct object. This only way to dispel the confusion is to use the preposition 'a' before the direct object.
I refer you to one of your older threads for more information. This answers question number 2 (and helps you to understand why 'a un taxi' might be used).

[LearningSpanish]

Thanks so much for reminding me about that I had completely forgotten it .

So the taxi is the direct object in both instances?

So I was having another read of that other thread and just wondered if you could please clarify something you said in it.


Because Spanish has more flexibility in word order, there is a device that can be used to mark the roles of some of the nouns. That device is the preposition 'a'.

This preposition is always used to signal the indirect object.

Because a subject and a direct object can be located on either side of the verb, it is important to mark the direct object with the preposition 'a' so it isn't confused with the subject. This is what happened in your first two sentences. In the second, it may not be so obvious since English word order was used.

So do you mean that the 'a' can mark either the indirect or direct object pronoun? But if the direct object isn't a known person it isn't necessary but it is sometimes used to avoid any ambiguity that arises from the word order. And I guess because it is used sometimes some people get into the habit of using it even when there's no ambiguity like - llamo a un taxi. How does that sound?

[Rusty]

The preposition 'a' can mark both of the objects. It always precedes the indirect object. It may be needed to flag the direct object when there may be some confusion as to its role (as compared with the subject).

[LearningSpanish]

Perfecto, gracias