Perífrasis: Echar(se) a and Poner(se) a

Question

I recently read that both echar(se) a and poner(se) a can be used to indicate the start of an action (perífrasis). Does anyone know if these are interchangeable. For example:

Se puso a llorar/Se echó a llorar - She started to cry

Or would they be used in different contexts. Any help with this would be greatly appreciated.

good question, Izan, only 0.3 k to get to the 5k turning point, illimited editing - 00494d19, OCT 10, 2009

Heidita, whatever in the world is "illimited" editing?? - Janice, OCT 10, 2009

hmmm, anybody who has more than 5k, can edit any post on this site, no limits to edditing, I think now youwould have like 20 edits a day, if that was my case,,,,lol, I edit like a hundred a day...jejeje - 00494d19, OCT 10, 2009

I think you mean "unlimited" amiga.... blame it on the typing ;) - Valerie, OCT 11, 2009

Answer 1

I am only venturing my two cents worth because no one else has answered yet, and it's quite likely I am wrong... but...

I think "se echo a llorar" gives the idea that it started more abruptly. "She burst into tears" rather than "She started to cry" (which is the idea that I get from se puso a llorar). It seems to me that echarse a might be something like 'to forcibly begin an action'.

Thank you for this. What you say sounds reasonable to me. Lets see if a native speaker will corroborate this for us. - Izanoni1, OCT 9, 2009

Answer 2

To express the start of something = ponerse + a + infinitivo Hacia un día estupendo y de pronto, se puso a llover .Cuando Javier ha sabido esta mañana que ha tocado la lotería ha puesto a cantar,

Answer 3

romper a is actually used when something starts happening with great strength:

El agua rompió a hervir.

El niño rompió a llorar.

Answer 4

Se puso a llorar/Se echó a llorar

Hmmmm, here it is quite interchangable.

Ponerse a hacer algo normally means to start the action, to put your hands to it...like after some kind of meditation.

Me puse a limpiar la casa. Me puse a dar de comer a los gatos.

Here you cannot use echarse a ....

Echarse a is more used with an action that is more impulsive. Nothing impulsive about cleaning the house, trust me jejeje

Se echó a correr. Se echó a llorar.

Answer 5

I want to thank everybody for joining in this discussion. This was very helpful. Thank you.

Answer 6

I think "se echo a llorar" gives the idea that it started more abruptly.

I have read "rompió a llorar" to mean that it started more abruptly (she broke out crying), do you think that there is much of a difference here?

good one Izan, this is correct and the best for burst out.... - 00494d19, OCT 10, 2009

Answer 7

I have read "rompió a llorar" to mean that it started more abruptly (she broke out crying)

Hmm... interesting. That seems very literal to me. "Romper", at least in the contexts that I've seen it in, seems to mean "to literally break something". But maybe it could be used to mean "to break out".

I have always read and used Valerie's suggestion of "echar + verb" to indicate that something happened abruptly. These are some examples from SpanishDict's dictionary, under "echar":

echar a andar -> to set off

echar a correr -> to break into a run

echar a llorar -> to burst into tears

echar a reír -> to burst out laughing

Interestingly, the pronominal form of "echar" is not used in those examples. But later on in that same dictionary entry I see the following:

echarse a hacer algo -> to begin to do something, to start doing something

se echó a cantar/reír -> he burst into song/laughter

Hmmm... So, I'm not really sure. We should wait for a native.