Can someone tell me what the proper usage is for the word "A"? I understand that it's used with the indirect oject (e.g. Conozco a tu padre.) but what about in this example: Me gusta el chocolate. A me gusta el chocolate. Is this the same?
It kind of depends on the context... Lets say a friend tells you "Me gusta el chocolate", you would reply "A mi me gusta el chocolate tambien"... Even though, you could just as easily say "Me gusta el chocolate tambien"... they would both be right. "A mi me gusta" just puts a little more emphasis on the subject... Per example... a friend says "Me gustan las peliculas de Tarantino" ( I like Tarantino's movies)... and you could reply "Pues, a mi no me gustan." (Well... I don't like them).
Ok, so was it wrong to say (A me)? Should it always be (A mi me)? I think I get what your saying though. A mi me gustan las manzanas, pero a Ud. no le gustan. To show that I like apples, and you don't.
Either way is right one just shows more emphasis (the one with 'a mi ') but they both mean the exact same thing
"A" is what is known as a personal pronoun (I think) Anyhow, it works like this. When speaking about someone (a person) or used in personification (making an object human), or possibly when talking lovingly about a pet. In other words, I could say: A mi tambien (Me too) Se dalo a mi gato (give it to my cat) rarely, it is used to personify things, such as in poems: Ando por a flor que parece mi amor. (I walked by a flower that reminded me/seemed like my love) I don't know if all of these sentences were perfect, but I hope you get the drift. There's an article on it at www.spanish.about.com
I found a good website that can probably answer this question. The link is here: http://www.esaudio.net/mini-articles/newsletter20.htm Check near the end of the page. There is a very good explanation of gustar and the use of A mi, a Ti, etc. Hope it helps. Carlos.