Repeat:Direct object pronouns in reading text?

Question

I tried to use html the last post and boy it looked great in the box below but after hitting the send button it completely disappeared. So here it is again and I think it will be OK this time just not pretty.
<br/> ¿Pero por qué nos preocupamos? —dijo Enrique—. Todavia nos quedan cuatro meses, y mientras tanto, tenemos tantas cosas que hacer. ###Nos vemos en unos minutos. ###Además, podemos escribirnos por email y hablar por teléfono —dijo Enrique. <br/>

The above is an a paragraph from "Easy Spanish Reader" a book I purchased to help my conversational abilities and translation abilities. The words in bold are beyond my comprehension for their use as: "nos preocupamos" "nos quedan" "tanto" "escribirnos". Pronoun usage seems to be the hardest for me and I did understand the rest of what was being said so at least I am progressing. Any help would be really appreciated.

Gracias

Answer 1

Hi Fox, Don't worry, this is hard for many English speakers! Remember that some verbs are always or nearly always reflexive and therefore must use an object. The first verb is preocuparse, a reflexive verb which always needs an object (me, te, se, or nos). Think of reflexive verbs as describing an action or state which we apply to ourselves, not to someone else. I find the "morning ritual" verbs useful for understanding reflexive verbs:

• ducharse (to shower oneself) "Me ducho a las seis." -- I shower (myself) at 6:00.
• bañarse (to bathe oneself) "Emilio se baña todas las noches." -- Emilio bathes (himself) every night.
• afeitarse (to shave oneself) "Nos afeitamos en el baño." -- We shave (ourselves) in the bathroom.

In Spanish, preocupar (to worry) is most often used reflexively: preocuparse (to worry oneself). "¿Pero por qué nos preocupamos?" is asking But why are we worrying (ourselves)?

Ver (to see) here simply has an direct object. The direct object is ourselves or each other, being expressed with "nos." "Nos vemos en unos minutos" -- We see each other in a few minutes. or We will see each other in a few minutes.

The verb quedar means to remain or to say. This sentence is a little more tricky but it is also simply using nos as an object pronoun to express "us." "Todavia nos quedan cuatro meses..." -- We still have four months left..., or more literally, Still, four months remain for us...

Nos once again serves as an object in the sentence "Además, podemos escribirnos por email y hablar por teléfono." When using the root, or infinitive form of a verb (escribir, in this case), you can tack on the object pronoun to the end of the verb. The sentence is saying Besides, we can write each other by email and talk by (on the) telephone.

Mientras tanto is an expression meaning meanwhile or in the meantime. Therefore the full sentence means something like, Still, four months remain for us and, in the meantime, we have some many things to do. or We still have for months and, in the meantime, we have so many things to do.

Qué chévere! This was very good chris, gracias. Could you use "cada otro" for "each other" for some of the places where it translates to each other? - foxluv, May 24, 2010

geat answer - 00494d19, May 24, 2010

Why "Mientras tanto" instead of just "Mientras" which means the same thing? - foxluv, May 24, 2010

Hi Foxluv, be careful with literal translations. "Cada otro" won't translate that way; remember "each other" is just a loose way to express the ob. pronoun "nos." One could use "us" or "ourselves," but I used the translation that make most sense in Eng - chris126, May 24, 2010

As far as "mientras" vs "mientras tanto," I am not completely sure so I will let the native speakers tackle that one! :-) - chris126, May 24, 2010

Answer 2

Hmmm... I still consider myself a beginner but wouldn't nos vemos mean we see ourselves? But nos preocupamos does seem to be repetitive. That is about all I feel like I can have a good opinion on with this question. I am interested in following this thread to learn from this as well. Good question.