"te tocan y a veces salen como ella"

Question

And speaking of tocar, how about this (I understand the meaning of tocar here, but not exactly how it is used grammatically, in this example):

"Ella es demasiado chica para ser mi amiga. Es sólo mi hermana y eso ne es culpa mía. Una no escoge a sus hermanas: te tocan y a veces salen como ella."

te tocan here basically means "it's fate" - 'One doesn't choose one's sisters; they are given to you (you just get them) and sometimes they turn out like her.'

Would you consider this to be a specific meaning for tocar or an idiom, as the sense cannot be literally that your sisters take you, rather they are given to you. Gramatically and semantically, is sisters is the subject of "tocan"?

Gracias,

J

After reading the definition of tocar, I think it has a sense of "fall to" as in by luck. (Your sisters fall to you and sometimes they turn out like her)...so I think (guess) sisters is the subject of tocan. - webdunce, Sep 9, 2010

And, a word more on te toca (it's your turn)...consider the English "it falls to you now" (kind of antiquated, but I see tocar now as I didn't before). - webdunce, Sep 9, 2010

Yes, - Jeremias, Sep 9, 2010

Oops, the editor booted me out before I finished. Yes, I think "they fall to you now" is a good way to express it in English. Thanks! - Jeremias, Sep 9, 2010

Answer 1

Once again, this has to do with turns. It is your turn, it is your fate. Fate touched you, and so this is the move you have been dealt.

This is one meaning of "tocar" spelled out by the RAE, so it's not just some regional idiom. In this case yes, "sisters" is the subject.

Well done, Gekkosan. Linguistically it works differently than in English. Someone tried to explain this to me before but I didn't get it. J - Jeremias, Sep 9, 2010