'Have been given

Question

How would you say 'the men have been given .......'

Am sure I know but the more I think about it, the more confused I get!

Thanks.

Welcome to the forum, :) @ isn't a letter so I deleted it;) - 00494d19, Jul 21, 2011

Answer 1

Sorry quentin, but your answer is technically not possible in Spanish as this is obviously a passive voice where the subject is the indirect object of the active sentence.

We have given the men a book.

The men have been given a book.

This is not possible in Spanish, only direct objects can become the subject of the passive sentence.

Toothpaste is spot on.

A los hombres se les ha dado un libro.

Yes I was clooooose. - SpanishPal, Jul 21, 2011

Answer 2

Please unaccept the accepted answer, it is not correct. Thanks.

Answer 3

have been given what??? Depending on the context and where it is in the paragraph you have a few ways of saying it....you could say it like:

A los hombres, les había dado

or 'lo' habia dado (it had been given) or se habia dado... - toothpastechica, Jul 21, 2011

Sorry - 'the men have been given more time to investigate the problem' - chris-keen, Jul 21, 2011

that is simply had given - 0074b507, Jul 21, 2011

not...its not had been actully....check your verb tenses...Also because its 'A' los hombres...the les is understood as the men, (the men have been given..) - toothpastechica, Jul 22, 2011

Answer 4

habían sido dado... han sido dado

hubieron sido dado....

look here

Por ejemplo....

Pluscuamperfecto subjuntivo pasivo del verbo dar...Past perfect subjunctive passive of the verb dar

- yo hubiera sido dado/a - tú hubieras sido dado/a - él, ella, Usted hubiera sido dado/a - nosotros hubiéramos sido dados/as - ellos, ellas, ustedes hubieran sido dados/as

Perfecto subjuntivo pasivo del verbo dar...Past tense subjunctive passive of the verb dar

• yo haya sido dado/a
• tú hayas sido dado/a
• él, ella, Usted haya sido dado/a
• nosotros hayamos sido dados/as
• ellos, ellas, ustedes hayan sido dados/as

---

Pluscuamperfectopasivo del verbo dar...Past perfect passive of the verb dar

- yo había sido dado/a - tú habías sido dado/a - él, ella, Usted había sido dado/a - nosotros habíamos sido dados/as - ellos, ellas, ustedes habían sido dados/as

Perfecto indicativo pasivo del verbo dar...Past tense indicative passive of the verb dar

• yo he sido dado/a
• tú has sido dado/a
• él, ella, Usted ha sido dado/a
• nosotros hemos sido dados/as
• ellos, ellas, ustedes han sido dados/as

Many thanks for your help! - chris-keen, Jul 21, 2011

Q, would this be right "Los hombres les se han dado" ??? Just wondering - SpanishPal, Jul 21, 2011

Estoy de acuerdo on Spanish Pal - wouldn't your había example would be 'had' been given not 'have' - Kiwi-Girl, Jul 21, 2011

Sorry, I misread the question. Yes, I thoght it was" had", not "have". - 0074b507, Jul 21, 2011

Answer 5

I would probably try to use a little reflexivity, as this is very common in Spanish maybe "se les dio más tiempo para investigar el problema." Often when translating something like "have been given" you can look at ti as "were given", and just use the preterite in this construction. I think this sounds more natural.

Thank you - this is SO complicated!! - chris-keen, Jul 21, 2011

I agree (especially in Spain where the simple and compound tenses are similar in meaning) - 0074b507, Jul 21, 2011

One of my favorite teachers at my university is from Salamanca. She was telling me that in parts of Spain they don't use the perfecto de indicativo, just the preterite. Interesting. - pescador1, Jul 21, 2011

Answer 6

This question has been haunting me too

Thanks everyone, I'm so glad to have this one solved. Learned a lot!! - territurtle, Jul 22, 2011