How to rewrite sentence with a reflexive pronoun?

Question

How do I rewrite this sentence using the appropriate reflexive pronoun:

Encontrasteis a Raquel en el concierto.

Do I simply put "Os" before "encontrasteis" like this:

Os encontrasteis a Raquel en el concierto.

or do I put "Os" and remove "Raquel" as well? Like this:

Os encontrasteis en el concierto.

Thank you.

Answer 1

The verb "encontrar" can be pronominal. When you use "encontrarse", the pronoun does not have a reflexive value but is called a dative. In this case the dative expresses the interest or involvement of the subject but is not reflexive. "Encontrarse" is obligatory with the preposition "con" but optional with the preposition "a" (which introduces the direct object):

• Os encontrasteis con Raquel. ("Os" here is an obligatory dative.) The meaning can be: You met with Raquel or You ran into Raquel.

• Os encontrasteis a Raquel. (Here "os" is optional or superfluous: we can say Encontrasteis a Raquel, but the meaning is: You ran into Raquel, i.e. by accident, not You met with Raquel, i.e. as scheduled.)

The sentence:

• Os encontrasteis en el concierto.

refers to a plural subject who had an encounter somewhere. Here the pronoun has a reciprocal value. If you use a prepositional phrase with "con" or "a", the plural subject met with or ran into somebody else (the object to the preposition).

Answer 2

You only use reflexive pronouns when the object is the same as the subject. EX:

-She cut herself (Ella se cortó)

The sentence you brought up, "Os encontrasteis a Raquel en el concierto" probably doesn't need a reflexive pronoun. I think using an indirect object pronoun would be more fitting. If you wanted to say, Raquel was found (by them) at / in the concert, you could say:

-Se (meaning Raquel or se is the object, or who is being found) encontrasteis a Raquel en el concierto.

I hope this clarifies your question!