No quiero que nadie se muera VS No quiero que nadie muera

Question

Are these just the same or is there some difference? Gracias.

Answer 1

Like with other verbs, that SE changes slightly the meaning and usage of the verb. "Morirse" focuses on the transition, so it can add the idea of an unexpected deaths, so you wouldn't use in a plane crash, for example, where dying is not an unexpected outcome. It can also highlight the idea of a long death. Of course you are not forced to use "morirse", but like in English, you don't have to say "I washed it up" - "I washed it" is enough. Also, you can't say "Morir de risa / de sed / de hambre" or other idiomatic expressions.

Except for maybe Spock in Star Trek, humans use language to convey more than just objective and precise meanings (something no one can do anyway), so languages have a range of expressive resources for people to use them. That SE in morirse is definitely not redundant.

I agree - it adds a certain meaning or flare, like "la comí" / "me la comí" - I ate / I ate it (all) up. - amy_moreno, Oct 22, 2010

I agree too. You say" Cervantes murió en 1616" because his die doesn't affect to you. And you say "me muero de ganas de verte", and "el gato se murió" - cogumela, Oct 22, 2010

I generally agree with what Lazarus says here, but - as we both often say - I think this should not be taken as a rule written in stone. I can think of exceptions to the various examples given here. - Gekkosan, Oct 22, 2010

Answer 2

Your question is interesting. I always suspected that using "se" after having said "nadie" (as in your example) was redundant, but I hear it everyday that I'm not so sure. Let's see if somebody can clarify this (for me at least).

Creo que tienes razón y suena redundante, por eso prefiero decir la segunda... sin embargo, el uso de las palabras y frases en un idioma lo hacen aquellos que lo hablan, es por ello que si muchas personas usan el "se" después de "nadie" - Tonyriva, Oct 22, 2010

aunque suene redundante, finalmente va a ser considerado como correcto - Tonyriva, Oct 22, 2010

Answer 3

It's the same...

although I'd use the second one "No quiero que nadie muera"... it sounds better... in my head at least...

Answer 4

I thought I'd seen this question before but I thought that I'd asked it. Check link text

Yes I ask a lot of repeat questions. Repetition is the key to learning. - jeezzle, Oct 23, 2010