Why use "me" and "te" before verbs when seemingly unnecessary?
I've noticed a lot of verbs are preceded by "me" and "te" (and other such pronouns), when it doesn't seem necessary and doesn't really change the meaning. For example:
No te preocupes.
Me tengo que ir.
If you already know that the verb is first-person singular or second person singular because of the conjugation, why do you need to place "me" and "te" before the verbs? Can't it just be...
No preocupes.
Tengo que ir.
Is there a particular reason for adding an extra word to such verbs? Is there some kind of trick that can help me know when I must place them before verbs?
3 Answers
In these examples, there is a marked difference between the non-pronominal and pronominal form of the verb.
If you look up preocupar you will see that the verb can be transitive or intransitive. The pronominal form is used for the intransitive form. Your example sentence is intransitive, so the pronominal form is used (see threads on detransitizing se).
The second sentence is the difference between ir and irse which we have many threads describing the differences in meaning: ir=go to (a destination); irse (leave from a location).
Me tengo que ir. or Tengo que irme.
However, Julian's answer may be more to the point.
There is a lot written on reflexive pronouns, some of which can be found right here by clicking the "More" tab.
You can process it any way you choose to make sense in your native language, but by doing so it can hinder the acquisition of your second language because you will continue to think in English while speaking Spanish and thus, create a lot of funny phrases. It´s better to just accept what you know to be correct in Spanish and speak accordingly, without comparing languages. After a certain time, it will all seem natural to you.
I wish that the dictionary was a lot more clear on the transitive / intransitive stuff. I never even noticed it before!
