'Perderme' in the past tense

Question

My task is to change this to third person and preterite.

"Perderme por el Barrio Gótico"

I understand it to mean "Lose myself in the Gothic quarter"

So my attempt: "Él se perdió por el Barrio Gótico"

Thanks for any tips

Answer 1

I think you want to put your English translation into the past tense and translate that back into Spanish:

'I lost myself through the Gothic Quarter."

The translation is pretty simple, so give it a try again. Your first attempt would be "He lost himself ...

The "me" at the end of "perder" should be a clue that the exercise wants 1st person. - CalvoViejo, Apr 24, 2011

No it's definitely third person it is asking for. We're reading someone else's writing - jamieculkin, Apr 24, 2011

se perdió doesn't mean "he lost himself," but "he got lost", as masquenada & someone stated. - Deanski, Apr 24, 2011

By the same token ¨me perdí¨doesn´t mean "I lost myself" but, rather "I got lost". Outside of poetry, "I lost myself" is rather odd (except, perhaps, in "I lost myself in the book that I was reading." [figurative use]) - samdie, Apr 24, 2011

Answer 2

I would say:

El se perdió en el Barrio Gótico.

"He got lost in the Gothic Quarter".

Él*. I believe "por" works fine here because it's used for general location. - someone09, Apr 24, 2011

Ah, okay, thanks. And I'm pretty sure "El" would be correct; generally on capital letters, one doesn't add accents(tildes). At least that's what I've been taught - Azabache, Apr 24, 2011

It may be correct to omit tildes on caps, but it's always clearer to include them. In this case "'El" is still the wrong word. It should be "Me perdí." - CalvoViejo, Apr 24, 2011

The OP said "My task is to change this to third person and preterite." So, it would be "él perdió". - Azabache, Apr 24, 2011

Answer 3

It's right. It means to get lost (at least in this context).