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Personal "a" with unknown antecedents

 

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Old February 16, 2010, 10:31 AM
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Personal "a" with unknown antecedents

Buenas tod@s!

Yesterday, I began reviewing the use of the subjunctive in relative clauses. I understand the use of the subjunctive in this situation, but the personal "a" has left me confused (like usual )

O sea, my book (which is known to have orthographical errors) had this to say:

Personal "a" is not used with unknown antecedents.

ex: Necesito una persona que hable árabe.
or
Busco una oficina que tenga una vista del mar.

Yet, in the translation exercises this question and answer seem to negate that note.

1. We want to find someone who can help us.
answer: Queremos encontrar A alguién que pueda ayudarnos.

Am I off my rocker? Isn't "alguién" an unknown antecedent because it is followed by the subjunctive and we don't know if this person exists?

Also, is the personal "a" used with negative antecedents? (nada, nadie, ninguno)

Sorry for the super long post! Thanks in advance

Meags
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