In the phrase
Eso le pasó a Marta por ser tú tan egoísta.
Shouldn't it be
Eso le pasó a Marta por seres tú tan egoísta.
I think the verb ser should agree with tú. Why is the first one right?
-
1Also check that "seres" is not any verb form, it doesn't exist– FGSUZCommented Dec 30, 2022 at 3:34
-
Do you speak Portuguese? I ask because Portuguese has a 'personal infinitive' with forms like 'seres', 'sermos', 'serem', so maybe you're getting the two languages mixed up. In Portuguese, you would say 'por seres (tu)' in these cases. But in Spanish such a form doesn't exist, as mentioned in the previous comment.– Ángel José RiesgoCommented Dec 30, 2022 at 13:48
-
@ÁngelJoséRiesgo yes I do speak portuguese. And this point is exactly where I got confused.– Kelly GoedertCommented Dec 30, 2022 at 16:08
-
@KellyGoedert That's what I imagined. Personal infinitives are a very specific trait of Portuguese grammar that Spanish speakers who learn Portuguese struggle with. Just remember that personal suffixes are never added to an infinitive in Spanish. Another example: to say 'ao chegares', 'ao chegarmos', we simply say 'al llegar' (or 'al llegar tú', 'al llegar nosotros', if we need to clarify who the action refers to).– Ángel José RiesgoCommented Dec 31, 2022 at 8:45
Add a comment
|
2 Answers
por + ser+ adjective means:
because you/she/he etc. are/is x, as you are x
And therefore is not conjugated in Spanish.
por ser [algo] is not a conjugated verb. It is a verb phrase: In English: because you are so selfish, as you are selfish, due to your being selfish
the por ser [adjective] is a very useful tool in speaking.
It can also be applied elsewhere and with, basically, any other verbs:
Por llegar tarde, perdí la conferencia. Because I arrived late, I missed the conference.
Por comer demasiado la semana pasada, engordó dos kilos. Because he ate too much last week, he gained two kilos.
Por haber aprendido el español después del portugués, a veces me pierdo en las tildes. :)
It is also used with the past infinitive: Due to having learned Spanish after Portugues etc.
Por ser + algo esto se usa muy a menudo como causa. Hay un error grave que no ha mencionado Lambie: Ser es un verbo y los verbos no se conjugan como un sustantivo para convertirlo en seres (seres proviene del sustantivo ser no del verbo).
