Preposition "A"

I apologize if this has already been posted. Good Evening, I am new here and I have just begun the program. I was following the Language and Culture section when i came across this statement ¿Cúando fue el doctor a ver a la señora? The translation says that it means When did the doctor go to see the lady but i do not understand how the preposition "a" in this case followed by the infinitive "ver" means go to see. I thought IR was used to go. I am still early in the program but i was hoping someone might be able to answer this question for me. Any assistance is appreciated. Thank you.

The preposition "a" is used in spanish in a similar way preposition "to" in english. "Ver" means "see"...but , eventhough it still makes sense without the "a" , its more correct to say "to see"..."a ver"....and that is why the use "a" in the sentence.... you can also say "¿Cuando fue a ver a la señora el doctor?" (which for me sounds more fluid hehe) or simply "¿Cuando vió el doctor a la señora?"....you can see "ver" changes to "vió"....this is the past tense of the verb "ver"....the equivalent in english would be "saw"....When did the doctor saw the lady or woman?... Espero que la informacion que te di haya sido de utilidad (hope the info i gave you is of some help). Mucha suerte, no te arrepentirás de aprender español ,es un idioma hermoso y estoy orgulloso de que sea mi lengua materna (Good luck, you wont regret learning to speak spanish, it`s a beautiful language and im very proud to be a native spanish speaker).. And since today we celebrate the mexican independence day i would add this....VIVA MEXICO!!! ;)

Thank you so much for clearing this up for me. The information you provide was helpful. VIVA MEXICO!

Yeah Estudiante1!! Viva Mexico hahaha im glad the info helped a lot! saludos!