What is the correct tense to be used with reflexive verbs?
The following sentence was put in the TRANSLATION unit: " I slipped on the ice and fell to the ground." The 3 translations returned were:
- Me resbalé en el hielo y cayó al suelo.
- Resbalé en el hielo y me caí al suelo.
Me deslicé en el hielo y me caí a la tierra.
Now there are 3 reflexive verbs in these answers but, the tenses don't seem to agree? What am I missing here?
3 Answers
cayó and caí are from preterite tense of the infinitive caer = to fall cayó is 3rd person singular while caí is first person singular: el, ella, usted cayó yo caí so I think the correct translation is : Me resbalé en el hielo y me caí al suelo.
One clue: the tenses are correct. But one of the options has two different persons.
Tense has nothing to to with it (they're all simple past). The only issue is the pronouns (subject and, perhaps reflexive) .