Ponerse a v. Empezar a

Question

I was reading a Spanish sentence, in which the writer said, "Me ponía a cantar." I discovered that the letter a placed after ponerse means "to start to." Could the writer have said "Empezaba a cantar" instead? Is there a difference (possibly style-wise only)?

Answer 1

Replace it? Yes. Will it sound the same? No!

"Ponerse a" implies a strong will to do an action, to make an effort to achieve something, or to be completely compromised to finish it no matter what. "Empezar a" simply means "to start".

As always, Lazarus, great explanation. :) - Jason7R, Sep 23, 2010

Great explanation, pero en inglés "compromised" y "comprometido" no son siempre iguales. Creo que "committed" sería mejor. - KevinB, Sep 23, 2010

Answer 2

Lazarus said:

"Ponerse a" implies a strong will to do an action, to make an effort to achieve something, or to be completely compromised to finish it no matter what. "Empezar a" simply means "to start".

This is a very good point, and in English there are several similar expressions which can be used to mean, "to start" while implying varying levels of commitment/involvement/effort by the speaker. For example:

I set myself to/I put myself to/I began the task of rounding up voters.

Answer 3

Aquí me pongo a cantar, al compás de la vigüela que al hombre que lo desvela una pena extraordinaria, como el ave solitaria con el cantar se consuela

Here I come to sing to the beat of my guitar; / because a man who is kept from sleep by an uncommon sorrow / conforts himself with singing, like a solitary bird.

(Martin Fierro, de Jose Hernández)

does not imply strong commitment to play the guitar and sing clever rhymes in a tavern, so I will say that sometimes ponerse a it´s just to start doing something without thinking too much about it.

¡Ole! ¡Qué bonito eso de "here come to sing!" - cogumela, Sep 23, 2010

Answer 4

Lazarus has explained it well, "ponerse a hacer" something implies not only to start doing it, but also will and involvement with the activity that is going to be performed.

Often it has also a touch of spontaneity.

Estábamos en clase y la profesora se puso a gritar al ver una araña en su mesa.

We were in class and the teacher began to scream because she saw a spider in her desk.

And sometimes the will and commitment are missing altogether: "Se puso a llover", "It started to rain" - bill1111, Sep 23, 2010