And why didn't they tell me?

Question

¿Y porque no me ha informado a mí?

My question is, do you think ha or han best expresses the figurative they, because I think ha does. Or do I need se there? Gracias.

Answer 1

What!?

..¿por qué no me ha informado a mi? : why haven't you / hasn't he informed me?

¿...por qué no me han informado a mi?. why haven't they (indefinite) informed me?

¿por qué no se me ha informado? : why haven't I been informed?

Yeah but i was thinking with ha it's "undefined" as to who informed the person, you see? Undefined. But I guess it's gotta be han or se then. - jeezzle, May 26, 2011

Gotta poke it with a stick a few times to make sure it reacts the same way or differently each time you know. - jeezzle, May 26, 2011

If you use "ha" only, the person must be you or he/she. Not an indefinite "they" - Gekkosan, May 26, 2011

I think I'm just tired and I was thinking se ha. - jeezzle, May 26, 2011

Answer 2

So, suppose someone did ask that. If the listener wanted to respond by asking:

"Who's they?" (well, better English would probably say, "Who (exactly) are they?", I guess), how would this be translated?

Surely not, "¿Quienes 'han'?", right?

I hope that makes some kind of sense... - Goldie_Miel, May 26, 2011

Oh, and assuming the listener didn't quite know who "they" was, as if the speaker just had an outburst. :P - Goldie_Miel, May 26, 2011

I would say "¿De Quienes Hablas? or maybe ¿De Quien Hablas?. But I think it would be unusual to say my question without first having clarified who you meant by the previous conversation. - jeezzle, May 26, 2011

Ok. That response makes sense. I understand what you mean by unusual. I was thinking, like, how someone may read something (say, from Facebook) and say (aloud), "Omg, *they* get on my nerves". Someone overhearing them may ask, "Who exactly are 'they'?" - Goldie_Miel, May 26, 2011