Faltar a

[laepelba]

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".....

[irmamar]

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.

[laepelba]

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?

[irmamar]

What can I say?

[chileno]

Originally Posted by laepelba

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?

No, you just need to process it.

[irmamar]

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

[Here4good]

Originally Posted by irmamar

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

Me ha faltado al respeto = He's offended me

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.

[irmamar]

Originally Posted by Here4good

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).

[Here4good]

Originally Posted by irmamar

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).

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!

[CrOtALiTo]

Originally Posted by laepelba

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".....

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.

[chileno]

Originally Posted by Here4good

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.

Yo también usaría "el"

Irma used "al", which is a contraction of "a el", y pensándolo bien, creo que de las dos maneras está bien.

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

I'm with Irma there. "Faltar al respeto" when one talks about offending someone.

For me, "Me faltó el respeto" would mean that I missed the respect...

[laepelba]

Originally Posted by irmamar

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

So the problem with that is that I still don't see the real difference. Although, with the discussion about "faltar al respeto", it makes me wonder if "faltar a" is more directional (directed AT someone or something) and "falter" without the "a" is more static....

My attempts:
- La ensalada falta el cilantro. (Without the "a". The salad is lacking the cilantro.)
- Una sonrisa falta a la maestra. (With the "a". The teacher is lacking a smile.)

Am I far off??

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

Originally Posted by laepelba

- A la ensalada le falta (el) cilantro. (Without the "a". The salad is lacking the cilantro.)
It would be strange "La ensalada le falta al cilantro", which would mean that coriander is missing the salad.

- Una sonrisa le falta a la maestra. (With the "a". The teacher is lacking a smile.)
A better word order would be "A la maestra le falta una sonrisa", although the meaning could be a bit ambiguous: it could be either that the teacher doesn't smile or that she needs someone smiling at her.

I think it's a matter of direct/indirect object: in "faltar algo" ("faltarle algo a alguien"), "algo" is the direct object.


Aquí faltan libros: había treinta y hay menos de veinte.
There are some books missing here: there were 30 and there are less than 20.

A Juan le falta un solo timbre para completar su colección.
Juan needs just one post stamp to have his collection complete.

Nos falta ver la catedral para terminar el recorrido de la ciudad.
We only have to see the cathedral to finish the tour of the city.

¿Crees que a la comida le falta sal?
Do you think the food needs some salt?

No puedo respirar, me falta el aire.
I can't breathe, I need some air.

¿Alguien de ustedes puede decirme por qué faltó María a (la) clase?
Can any of you tell me why María is not in class?

Mira, me falta un diente.
Look, I don't have one tooth.

Cuidado, le falta el acento a "arbol".
Be careful, "arbol" needs its accent.

Pedro nunca se ríe. Le falta sentido del humor.
Pedro never laughs. He lacks a sense of humor.

¿Seguro de que no te van a faltar camisas durante el viaje?
Are you sure you won't need more shirts during the trip?

[laepelba]

Originally Posted by AngelicaDeAlquezar

I think it's a matter of direct/indirect object: in "faltar algo" ("faltarle algo a alguien"), "algo" is the direct object.

Aquí faltan libros: había treinta y hay menos de veinte.
There are some books missing here: there were 30 and there are less than 20.
Books are missing here...

A Juan le falta un solo timbre para completar su colección.
Juan needs just one post stamp to have his collection complete.
One stamp is missing from Juan in order to complete his collection.

Nos falta ver la catedral para terminar el recorrido de la ciudad.
We only have to see the cathedral to finish the tour of the city.
Seeing the cathedral is what we're missing to finish seeing the city.

¿Crees que a la comida le falta sal?
Do you think the food needs some salt?
Do you think that salt is missing from the food?

No puedo respirar, me falta el aire.
I can't breathe, I need some air.
....air is missing from me.

¿Alguien de ustedes puede decirme por qué faltó María a (la) clase?
Can any of you tell me why María is not in class?
Can anyone tell me why Maria is missing from the class?

Mira, me falta un diente.
Look, I don't have one tooth.
Look, one tooth is missing from me.

Cuidado, le falta el acento a "arbol".
Be careful, "arbol" needs its accent.
Be careful, the accent is missing from "arbol".

Pedro nunca se ríe. Le falta sentido del humor.
Pedro never laughs. He lacks a sense of humor.
.....His sense of humor is missing.

¿Seguro de que no te van a faltar camisas durante el viaje?
Are you sure you won't need more shirts during the trip?
Are you sure shirts won't be missing from you during the trip?

WAIT! So my understanding of the word faltar was backwards? The "algo" that's missing is the SUBJECT of the sentence? If I say in English "the salad is missing the cilantro", "salad" is the subject. But in Spanish, the subject of "faltar" is the cilantro? Hmmm...

I re-wrote some of your translations, in an attempt to be more exact (even though they're so awkward, you'd never say it like that....) Am I on the right track?

When using "faltar", is the subject ALWAYS after the verb? Also, none of your examples use "faltar a". I'm still not getting the difference.....

Maybe I'll try to write some more practice sentences later.....

[chileno]

Originally Posted by AngelicaDeAlquezar

I'm with Irma there. "Faltar al respeto" when one talks about offending someone.

For me, "Me faltó el respeto" would mean that I missed the respect...

Tú e irma tienen razón. "a el" = "al"

Lo que pasa es que se dice rápido y pareciera que's "el".

[KDS4444]

Look, these examples are all very well and good, but none of them answer the fundamental question (which is now six years old, I know...): how can a person distinguish between when to use "faltar" and "faltar a"?? Examples are critical, but they don't explain the linguistic rule.

I've studies Spanish for three years, and been an exchange student in Ecuador... I've also worked for the US Census Bureau as a Spanish-speaker, and I consider my fluency level to be relatively high. But I can't "feel" when to use "faltar" or "faltar a" from what I've read in this thread, and my Spanish "ear" doesn't hear the difference when I say them to myself. Gimme the rule! Then let me see some examples that follow it, examples that come ONLY from a native Spanish speaker! Yes?? Okay, lay it on me, people....

Oh, wait! And when can/ must you use "faltar" vs. "estranar" (with a tide over that "n")?? Somehow I am certain that they do not mean "exactly the same thing" (because the way language works, two words can never ever mean exactly the same thing!).

[Rusty]

Originally Posted by KDS4444

Look, these examples are all very well and good, but none of them answer the fundamental question (which is now four years old, I know...): how can a person distinguish between when to use "faltar" and "faltar a"?? Examples are critical, but they don't explain the linguistic rule.

I thought that the definitions that came from a dictionary and some examples, quoted next, provided the fundamental differences.

Originally Posted by irmamar

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.

Originally Posted by KDS4444

I've studied Spanish for three years, and been an exchange student in Ecuador. I've also worked for the US Census Bureau as a Spanish-speaker, and I consider my fluency level to be relatively high. But I can't "feel" when to use "faltar" or "faltar a" from what I've read in this thread, and my Spanish "ear" doesn't hear the difference when I say them to myself. Gimme the rule! Then let me see some examples that follow it, examples that come ONLY from a native Spanish speaker! Yes?? Okay, lay it on me, people.

Many examples have been provided, coming ONLY from native speakers. Did they not help you to feel the difference? Perhaps more examples from other dictionaries will help.

Originally Posted by KDS4444

Oh, wait! And when can/must you use "faltar" vs. "extrañar" (with a tilde over that "n")??

There's an 'Accents' drop-down menu just above where you type that can be used to insert all the special characters found in the Spanish language.

Originally Posted by KDS4444

Somehow I am certain that they do not mean "exactly the same thing"

Faltar and extrañar are not synonyms, so they can't mean the same thing.

Originally Posted by KDS4444

(because the way language works, two words can never ever mean exactly the same thing!).

When they mean 'miss someone or something', echar de menos, añorar and extrañar all mean the exact same thing.

Many words have synonyms. English is particularly rich in synonyms. By definition, a synonym is a word that means the same, or nearly the same, thing. There's no difference in soda or pop in some parts of America, for example. The same object is received when requested. 'Request', 'petition' or 'supplicate' can all mean 'ask/beg'. In Spanish, the equivalents are 'pedir', 'rogar' or 'suplicar'. There's no difference between a chest of drawers and a bureau. In Mexico, they use 'cómoda' and 'buró' interchangeably.

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

You can also find a discussion on extrañar and faltar here.

[KDS4444]

This is a great example of what I was talking about when I said, "Two words never mean the same thing." "Soda" and "pop" may refer to the same category of physical objects, but "pop" indicates that the speaker is from a different geographic region of the country from those who say "soda". The "meaning", then, is in what the words reveal about the speaker. That matters. That is a "difference."

For ask, petition, supplicate: yes, they "mean" the "same" things, but the subtleties, the nuances, are different: "ask" is a straightforward request; "petition" has legal overtones; "supplicate" suggests an inequality of power and a baseness in the asker; "beg" suggests humiliation, desperation. None of those words is truly interchangeable, even if they are all "synonyms". Every words has different meanings, even if those meanings are subtle, and even if the thing they mean is about the speaker and not the thing being spoken about.