The infamous subject pronouns

Question

At the risk of castigation:

In conversation with my mexican friends, I hear the subject pronouns often, and they seem to me to be needed to give sense to the phrase.

For example: ''ella no lo compró, nosotros lo compramos.'' She did not buy it, we bought it.

Saying: "ella no lo compró, lo compramos" or "no lo compró, lo compramos" would have no sense at all.

Answer 1

For example: ''ella no lo compró, nosotros lo compramos.'' She did not buy it, we bought it.

There is no mystery about this. Subject pronouns are used for contrasts, and this is a contrast, so they must be used unless you can stablish the contrast using other mechanisms.

Saying: "ella no lo compró, lo compramos" or "no lo compró, lo compramos" would have no sense at all.

Those sentences sound extremely odd, because the first one starts with a pronoun, but the second part tells us otherwise, so it is very confusing. The second one sounds like a couple of disconnected sentences that makes it hard for us to interpret them correctly.

It is simple: if you have a contrast, you have to signal it, either with personal pronouns, or else.

Answer 2

I just wanted to add how such a sentence would get translated into English...

(Assuming "she" due to context).

No lo compró = She didn't buy it. (Maybe she couldn't afford it, maybe she changed her mind, maybe the were out of stock)

Ella no lo compró = She didn't buy it. (Implies someone else did).

What English accomplishes with increased stress on the word "she," Spanish accomplishes by adding the normally absent pronoun.

Thank you for your comment. I agree with the use of the "stress". In spanish it is applied in a similar fashion. - pacofinkler, Jan 2, 2011