Answers
Mar 26, 2015 - 05:01 PM
Those are called "Clitics" :) There is vast study material on those, as to explain how and why they are positioned before or after the verb, depending on the conjugation. You can google "clitics in spanish" if you're interested. As for which form is better between me voy a acostar and voy a acostarme, no idea. I use both without thinking much. Maybe a native speaker can give more insight?
Mar 26, 2015 - 07:17 PM
Fabrice, Thank you for your insight. I "think" I understand if the verb is conjugated, I put the appropriate pronoun in front of the conjugated verb. I just don't know when I am speaking if I can say it either way. It is much easier for me speaking to simply add the appropriate me, te, se, etc at the end of the reflexive verb without going through the additional step of moving the appropriate pronoun to the front and then conjugating the verb. Just seems redundent to me.
Apr 01, 2015 - 04:32 AM
Hola Kendoll,
Reflexive verbs can be quite challenging in Spanish because there is sometimes no direct equivalent in English and they are also a lot more common in Spanish than in English. Whenever the idea is that a person is the doer and receiver of an action, so when the action is reflected back on oneself, we use a reflexive verb in Spanish. So, for example, take:
Despertarse – you wake yourself up and then you are awake
Levantarse – you get yourself out of bed and then you are up
Acostarse – you take yourself to bed and then you are in bed
The structure is also very different in Spanish which is why we break it down for.
1) We start by introducing these reflexive verbs and the reflexive pronouns in the infinitive forms. If the reflexive verb is in the infinitive form, they work just like other infinitive verbs that take object pronouns. So we can say:
He’s going to give me a suitcase – El va a darme una maleta
And it works the same with reflexive verbs:
We’re going to go to bed – Nosotros vamos a acostarnos
A little trick here is to think “We’re going to put ourselves to bed”.
2) We introduce the reflexive verbs in their conjugated form. Again, it works just like other verbs. When the verb is conjugated, the pronoun has to be placed before the verb. So we can say:
She gave me a book – Ella me dio un libro
And:
I got up at eight – Yo me levanté a las ocho
Or:
They always go to bed early – Ellos siempre se acuestan temprano
3) Once we are confident that you have mastered this, we add another option which mixes what we have learned so far. When we have a reflexive verb in the infinitive, the pronoun can be attached to the infinitive verb OR it can be placed before the conjugated verb, as in:
Nos podemos bañar - (We) can bathe
Or:
Yo me quiero quedar aquí - I want to stay here
It would be absolutely fine to say:
Yo quiero quedarme aquí
Again, it's exactly the same as with other object pronouns:
Yo lo quiero comprar - I want to buy it
Or:
Yo quiero comprarlo
Both versions are correct and you are going to hear both in conversation. So you are welcome to stick to one form all the time, but you have to get used to the fact that the two structures exist and are frequently used.
Reflexive verbs can be quite challenging in Spanish because there is sometimes no direct equivalent in English and they are also a lot more common in Spanish than in English. Whenever the idea is that a person is the doer and receiver of an action, so when the action is reflected back on oneself, we use a reflexive verb in Spanish. So, for example, take:
Despertarse – you wake yourself up and then you are awake
Levantarse – you get yourself out of bed and then you are up
Acostarse – you take yourself to bed and then you are in bed
The structure is also very different in Spanish which is why we break it down for.
1) We start by introducing these reflexive verbs and the reflexive pronouns in the infinitive forms. If the reflexive verb is in the infinitive form, they work just like other infinitive verbs that take object pronouns. So we can say:
He’s going to give me a suitcase – El va a darme una maleta
And it works the same with reflexive verbs:
We’re going to go to bed – Nosotros vamos a acostarnos
A little trick here is to think “We’re going to put ourselves to bed”.
2) We introduce the reflexive verbs in their conjugated form. Again, it works just like other verbs. When the verb is conjugated, the pronoun has to be placed before the verb. So we can say:
She gave me a book – Ella me dio un libro
And:
I got up at eight – Yo me levanté a las ocho
Or:
They always go to bed early – Ellos siempre se acuestan temprano
3) Once we are confident that you have mastered this, we add another option which mixes what we have learned so far. When we have a reflexive verb in the infinitive, the pronoun can be attached to the infinitive verb OR it can be placed before the conjugated verb, as in:
Nos podemos bañar - (We) can bathe
Or:
Yo me quiero quedar aquí - I want to stay here
It would be absolutely fine to say:
Yo quiero quedarme aquí
Again, it's exactly the same as with other object pronouns:
Yo lo quiero comprar - I want to buy it
Or:
Yo quiero comprarlo
Both versions are correct and you are going to hear both in conversation. So you are welcome to stick to one form all the time, but you have to get used to the fact that the two structures exist and are frequently used.
Apr 01, 2015 - 05:34 AM
Thank you so much as I know it took some time to post this answer and yes, it does answer my question! Finally it is becoming clearer to me and guess I just needed time for my brain to adjust. Very helpful!