Te or Tú: Which one to use?
Hello,
I started learning Spanish about 6 weeks ago and have come across something in my textbook that I don't quite understand. The question the book asks the reader is:
¿Dónde te compraste la camisa?
I don't get why "te" is used here instead of "tú". I'm pretty new to grammar, so maybe I haven't learned enough to know why (or am just forgetting something.)
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
8 Answers
For 6 weeks of Spanish this may be pretty heavy but basically 'Te' is an indirect object pronoun and is used to help clarify that you bought it for yourself.
¿Dónde te compraste la camisa? Where did you buy (te= for you/yourself) the shirt?
you could also leave it off and have
¿Dónde compraste la camisa? Where did you buy the shirt. But the shirt could then be for anyone. 
This article may help. Indirect ObjectsTo identify the indirect object use our two guidelines:
The Indirect Object tells us where the Direct Object is going. The IO answers the question "to whom?" or "for whom" the action of the verb is performed.
When a pronoun takes the place of the name of the indirect object, use the following pronouns:
me (me) te (you-familiar) le (him, her, you-formal)
nos (us) os (you-all-familiar) les (them, you-all-formal)
¿Dónde te compraste la camisa?
It makes perfect sense.
Here, the verb comprar is used as a reflexive verb, as comprar sometimes is. It is saying, "Where did you buy yourself that shirt?"
You may not have learned the reflexive pronouns yet, but "te" is the second person singular.
"Tú" is used for subjects. "Te" is used for indirect objects, direct objects, reflexive pronouns...many more places than tú.
¿Dónde te compraste la camisa?
I don't get why "te" is used here instead of "tú". I'm pretty new to grammar, so maybe I haven't learned enough to know why (or am just forgetting something.)
That "te" is not used instead of "tú". Look at the sentence slightly modified:
¿Dónde te compraste tú la camisa?
That "te" is an indirect object which is used to indicate that the person didn't just buy the shirt, but also for herself.
I'd say that that te erases the doubt as to whom you bought the shirt for.
I can say: Me compré algo. = I bought (myself) something.
Compré algo. = I bought something (may be for myself or for someone else).
Reflexive???? - lazarus1907 1 day ago flag
OK.... there is no way I'm going to argue Spanish grammar with you. 
But this does lead me to a question.
Our dictionary entry says, "This (verb) can be reflexive depending on the meaning."
Ok great. So if this is not a case of it being used as a reflexive verb, when clearly he is buying it for himself.....
....then can you give me an example of when it is a reflexive verb?
Consider Kiwi's answer with the knowledge that Spanish tries to avoid the possessive pronouns whenever possible. In other words, Spanish would prefer we say la camisa instead of tu comisa.
They say ¿Dónde te compraste la camisa? instead of ¿Dónde compraste tu camisa?
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There are times to say "tu camisa", though. This is usually done in contrast to someone else's shirt.
Fred compró su camisa de Dillard's. ¿De dónde compraste tu camisa?
(Really, in this case, they'd probably say ¿De dónde compraste la tuya?, but is another topic.)
I get your confusion - this doesn't make sense. Where did you buy the shirt? "You" is the subject, and should be tú. In practice, you probably wouldn't use a subject pronoun at all unless to provide emphasis, for example if someone had said, "Well, I bought the shirt at a thrift shop. Where did you buy the shirt?
Sorry, it seems there are much better explanations...
Thanks, Goyo, Kiwi, and Lazarus.
I'll enjoy watching everyone's interesting posts here. 
