The word "SE"
I read that once the pronoun is established we can replace it with "se". So I would like to know if the second sentence in the following example is correct or incorrect.
Rudy te los dio? Si, se me los dio.
I know I could just say, "me los dio" it would be shorter and faster and still correct, but can I, if I wanted to say... "se me los dio"???
Thanks.
2 Answers
I read that once the pronoun is established we can replace it with "se".
Maybe I'm not interpreting that sentence as I should, but that statement does not seem to make any sense. "Se" has many different uses, but one of them is to replace "le" and "les" in these sequences: "le lo", "le la", "le los", "le las", "les lo", "les la", "les los", "les las". So, instead of writing "Le lo di", you must write "Se lo di". Maybe it has to do with the fact that the adjective "lelo" means halfwit.
I know I could just say, "me los dio" it would be shorter and faster and still correct, but can I, if I wanted to say... "se me los dio"???
No, you can't. You can only have to object pronouns (indirect and direct). That "se", therefore, would be interpreted by a native as being part of the verb, but "darse" here does not see to make much sense (not in my country, at least).
te = to you (indirect)
los = them (direct)
me = to me (indirect)
No, that wouldn't be right. I'll let the grammarians explain the exact reason, but se isn't the proper pronoun in that context.
Rudy te los dio? - Rudy gave them to you?
Sí, me los dio - Yes, he gave them to me.
In English you use the subject pronoun he to replace Rudy. In Spanish you could use the pronoun él (he), but typically you would not use the subject pronoun in Spanish unless it was for emphasis or to clarify who was doing the giving. Ordinarily you don't use the subject pronoun if it can be inferred from the context.
Welcome to the forum, by the way. Good question.
