Using ser with pronouns

Question

I've found some examples of where the verb 'ser' (to be) is used with indirect object pronouns and just want to cement my understanding of the translated meaning.

For example,

Me es muy difícil bajar de peso. (It is very difficult for me to lose weight)

I assume this could this be shortened to '¿Me es muy difícil?' (It is difficult for me)

Could the same be applied to the following sentence when shortened:

El libro es para mi (the book is for me)

'es para mi' (it is for me)

'me es' (it is for me)? or is 'me es' bad/meaningless Spanish?

I get confused with prepostions and direct/indirect objects!!

So "me es" can mean "to me" when describing something. I'm going to remember this. This is really useful. Nice question :) - GuitarWarrior, Apr 24, 2011

Answer 1

In this link for me es, it's said that it is indeed used, but not as often as para mí or other applicable verbs.

Edit: Now, doing a search in our own archive, I found out that this same issue has been brought up before, and answered accordingly by Lazarus. Check this out:

me es difícil

thank you Deanski. there are so many contradictions now to my answer im really confused lol - billygoat, Apr 8, 2011

Answer 2

Me es muy difícil bajar de peso.

My guess is that it should be something like:

Es muy difícil de perder peso para mí.

thanks. I got the example from here http://spanish.about.com/cs/grammar/qt/serwithobject.htm. - billygoat, Apr 8, 2011

"Me es muy difícil" gets 1,350,000 hits on google, so a lot of people must think it's OK. - lorenzo9, Apr 8, 2011

Answer 3

According to this it is correct to use "me es", but it should only be used in limited situations. The sentence about the book does not seem to fit into those situations.

thank you for this! - billygoat, Apr 8, 2011

Answer 4

The first example is not correct, even when you changed it. We can't say "me es muy dificil" because there is no need for an object pronoun before the main verb "es". If we want to, we can use a SUBJECT pronoun before "es", but it's already understood, so we can just say... "Es muy difícil bajar de peso". If you want to say "it's difficult FOR ME", then you say "Para mí es muy difícil bajar de peso". The second sentence is correct before you put "me es" in it; but if you want to make it shorter, we can notice that the sentence is indicating POSSESSION and use the possessive pronouns "mío, mía, tuyo, tuya, suyo, suya, vuestro, vuestra, nuestro, nuestra and their plurals." In this case "Ese libro es mío" "that book is mine". There are lots of lessons about pronouns on spanish dict, so I'll leave the rest to you. Good luck!

thank you. I actually too, the first example from here. http://spanish.about.com/cs/grammar/qt/serwithobject.htm. The page includes other examples used in the same way. - billygoat, Apr 8, 2011

Answer 5

Me es muy difícil bajar de peso.

I've thought and read about this some more.

"bajar de peso" is the subject.

"me" is an indirect object, or object of a preposition when the sentence is put in another order

"muy difícil" is an adjective phrase describing the subject through the copulative use of the verb ser

Putting the sentence in the "normal" subject verb object order:

Bajar de peso es muy difícil para mí.

Rearranging the sentence to have an indirect object pronoun before the verb and the subject after the adjective phrase seems to be perfectly acceptable grammar to me.

I guess "me es" is correct, although it still sounds strange to me.

I've probably made some errors above

that is exactly the way i read it!! which then got me thinking about the second sentence with the book and simply whether 'me es' on its own in context of a conversation would be translated as ' it is for me'. - billygoat, Apr 8, 2011

Answer 6

The example is correct, people say that. Focusing on that me...

I'm not an expert on Spanish filology, but I learn it wasn't a direct or indirect object, but a "interest object".

I've been searching info about it and I found this:

http://culturitalia.uibk.ac.at/hispanoteca/Lexikon der Linguistik/c/COMPLEMENTO INDIRECTO.htm

It's said to be a Dativo ético (o de interés). Basically, it is an unnecessary object to express that the effect of the whole sentence afects some one (usually, it affects me).

thank you for your time. Are you saying that 'me es' - ie 'it is for me' is correct? That is what im really trying to understand - billygoat, Apr 8, 2011