33
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All about datives, or: What's that funny "le" or "me" doing in there?
The dative case is commonly known as the grammatical case of indirect objects (the secondary object of ditransitive verbs like dar), and it is marked in Spanish by the use of special pronouns (me, te, ...
13
votes
Why is "a" needed in "Jugaba al tenis todos los días"?
According to the DLE, the verb jugar is used with that meaning followed by the a preposition:
intr. Entretenerse, divertirse tomando parte en uno de los juegos sometidos a reglas, medie o no en ...
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12
votes
If "dar" means "to give", what does "daros" mean?
It's the second person plural object pronoun 'os' (as opposed to the subject pronoun 'vosotros'). It means 'you (plural)'. You would also use it where in English you might use 'to you' or 'for you' ...
12
votes
Accepted
Redundant indirect object pronoun: is "le" redundant in "preguntémosle al estúpido / a él"?
TL;DR
The redundant le is only optional if a noun acts as indirect object and that noun is placed after the verb: otherwise, it is mandatory. However, in spoken speech, the redundant le is almost ...
11
votes
Accepted
"Dale un beso a los niños" - what does "le" stand for?
The text is mistaken. The pronoun should be les.
In the text, the dative pronoun le is the indirect object, and anticipates the full indirect object, a los niños. This (showing the IO through a ...
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9
votes
Accepted
When to use an indirect object pronoun rather than a direct object pronoun?
Very generally speaking, a direct object completes or specifies the meaning of the verb, while an indirect object adds a destination, a goal, someone or something towards which the action is oriented. ...
- 39.6k
7
votes
Why "se lo" instead of "le lo"? / ¿Por qué debo escoger "se lo" en vez de "le lo"?
You were already answered the question when to use se lo but I understand your question is more why using se lo instead of the expected le lo?
Like a lot of people, I wrongly believed this ...
- 1,352
7
votes
What is the grammar behind "¡Hágale pues!"?
Hágalo is do it by yourself
Hágaselo is do it to/for him/her
Hazlo is just do it.
Hágale is go ahead and do something.
-le refers to Usted
The pronoun can be omitted (hence is missing) since it ...
- 10.7k
6
votes
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¿Es correcto "pegarle a un padre"? Y en general, ¿se puede repetir el complemento indirecto en una frase usando "le" o "se" además del explícito?
Ambas formas son correctas.
Dice el Diccionario panhispánico de dudas
Pronombres personales átonos
5. [...] La duplicación del complemento indirecto a través del pronombre átono es siempre ...
- 30k
6
votes
What is the role of the "le" in the sentence "Miguel le dio a su novia un anillo."?
Your sentence is an example of what is called "redundancia pronominal" or "reduplicación/doblado de clíticos": there is an object in the canonical position ("a su novia" in your case) and also a ...
- 1,987
6
votes
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Implicit vs explicit subject verb agreement - how do Spanish speakers avoid ambiguity?
In this particular example, I'm afraid, there is no ambiguity. Let's strip the sentence down to the basics:
Decidió que el primer caballero andante que encontrase le armaría caballero.
This is a ...
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6
votes
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Why use "le" in "se le oyo"?
You're so close. It actually means "from him/her", but it is not empahisis, because it is not repeating any information, but adding it for the first time.
If you said
Se oyó un comentario
That ...
- 4,814
6
votes
The use of "a ti" with "perdido"
In Spanish there are two (partially overlapping) sets of object pronouns: the unstressed (átonos), clitic pronouns, and the stressed (tónicos), independent pronouns. The unstressed object pronouns are ...
- 39.6k
6
votes
Why is "le" used instead of "la" in "su marido le pegó"?
There are verbs that can take the indirect object (le / les) without a direct one. For example:
Verbs of emotion and mental process: Le gustas mucho (He/She likes you a lot)
Other verbs in this ...
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5
votes
Why "se lo" instead of "le lo"? / ¿Por qué debo escoger "se lo" en vez de "le lo"?
The reason you see le transform in front of lo/la/los/las has to do with the history of Spanish. In Old Spanish, the combination le(s) + lo/a/os/as was written gelo/a/os/as (with the g pronounced as ...
- 30k
5
votes
Translation for "Murió y le dieron por sepultura sus aguas"
It actually refers that they have thrown his corpse to the river.
The actual fragment:
EL LUGAR
El Padre de las Aguas, el Mississippi, el río más extenso del mundo,
fue el digno teatro de ese ...
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5
votes
Accepted
Understanding why a pronoun and "que se" are used in a sentence
I'll answer your three questions, one by one:
le is just a duplication of the indirect complement, al jefe del banco. It is not strictly necessary, but in Spanish this duplication is very usual.
This ...
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5
votes
Why do we need a "a" in "Oíste a los pajaros"?
That depends on whether the object is direct or indirect. Imagine you are camping in the middle of the forest, you could say:
Anoche oí un lobo a lo lejos.
Anoche oí lobos a lo lejos.
You don't ...
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5
votes
Mírame a Pablo convertido en santo - meaning of "me"
In:
Mírame a Pablo convertido en santo.
"me" is a dative, of a possessive or ethical type.
It might be possessive because Pablo is one of his hitmen, and ethical because of the emotional ...
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5
votes
How to use “les” in examples like this?
This is a case of an indirect object that appears twice in the sentence: once as a noun and once as a pronoun. In the example:
A los españoles les llevó años reconquistar la península ibérica
It ...
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5
votes
How would you say "I am him" or similar others in Spanish?
The sentences:
Lo veo (Veo a Dave)
and
Soy él (Soy Dave)
are completely different, and thus require a different pronoun after the verb, because "ver" is transitive (and followed by an ...
- 32.6k
4
votes
Accepted
Multiple verbs with different agents
Reviving this old question, I'll focus on the first and main question: When a sentence contains two verbs with different agents must they be separated by a conjunction (e.g. que)? Or, can the second ...
- 39.6k
4
votes
Accepted
Sí misma / usted misma
I think that the correct form is
¿Lo quiere para usted misma?
Take into account that usted uses 3rd person conjugation but refers to "second person" (stands for tú/vosotros). The relexive pronoun ...
- 48.2k
4
votes
Accepted
The use of "se le" in "A su muerte, pidió que **se le** enterrara en secreto."
"(que) se le enterrara en secreto" is, in fact, a passive clause, and is correctly translated as proposed: "(that) he be buried in secret."
Being passive and in the absence of any noun or noun phrase ...
- 32.6k
4
votes
Accepted
The proper use of le as the indirect pronoun
Trying to fit a word of a language into the mold of another one can sometimes work and sometimes not. If it looks like it doesn't work and furthermore confuses you, it's best to drop it and just try ...
- 39.6k
4
votes
Difference between 'les' and 'se' in the context of encanta: Why '*Les* encanta viajar' and not *se*?
Encantar works like gustar. It's not a pronominal verb (i.e. a verb that takes a "reflexive" pronoun even though it's not truly reflexive). You see encantar almost always with a pronoun, as with ...
- 39.6k
4
votes
When to use indirect objects vs prepositions
There are basically three (and a half) different combinations you can use:
Explicit indirect object (uses a): Di algo a María
This is used when the indirect object has yet to be introduced, or it ...
- 30k
4
votes
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Quedar: cuando se habla del resultado de algo
Pablo: ¿Cómo me quedó la comida?
Beatriz: Te quedó muy rica.
"quedar" means "turn out" in the sentences above, and refers to the result of the process of cooking or preparing the ...
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