Possessive pronoun vs article for this sentence?

Question

This sentence has been giving me some trouble so can someone please help me out. I want to say "I just killed this huge spider that was climbing up my leg!". My first try at it was "Acabo de matar esta araña immensa que me estaba trepando la pierna". What I am unsure about is should I have said one of the following instead:

1. Acabo de matar esta arana inmensa que estaba trepando la pierna.
2. Acabo de matar esta arana inmensa que estaba trepando mi pierna.

In the first alternative sentence, I omitted the "me". In the second, I omitted the me and used the possessive pronoun "mi" instead of the article "la".

I am unsure which (if any) of the three sentences is the correct one, so could someone please tell me which sentence is correct? Thanks!

You can use "grande" for "big" spider. "grandísima" for "very big". Just a suggestion :) - GuitarWarrior, Aug 11, 2011

Además: araña - Deanski, Aug 11, 2011

Answer 1

My first try at it was "Acabo de matar esta araña immense que me estaba trepando la pierna".

That's an interesting question, because the definite article is used for things that are supposed to belong to you, like "lavar", "vestir"... where you expect your body and clothes to be the target when you say "me". However, with "trepar" there is no such obvious relationship, so the implication turns out to sound odd. In this case, you really want to say:

Acabo de matar esta araña immensa que estaba trepando por mi pierna.

The alternative, "me estaba trepando por la pierna" can definitely be considered as acceptable, but it is not the one I would recommend in formal Spanish.

Yeah, I had trouble with this one myself. I answered saying the original was correct, but then took it back because it just didn't sound right to me. - gintar77, Aug 11, 2011

Any chance you could explain why to use por here? This one was hard for me as well, but seeing por, it does sound right (and I know it is) but I wonder the exact reason for the por. Gracias - jeezzle, Aug 11, 2011

Answer 2

Any chance you could explain why to use por here? This one was hard for me as well, but seeing por, it does sound right (and I know it is) but I wonder the exact reason for the por. Gracias

Oh, that's an easy one: "por" in general indicates the place, time or measures taken at some point, often in order to reach an end... which is expressed with "para". A spider crawling up your leg is definitely going through that part of your body without a clear end, so there is no better preposition to describe this.

Voy por las montañas -> Where to? I didn't say. Just through.

Answer 3

delete

Answer 4

Well what came to my mind about how I would say it was "acabo de matar una araña inmensa que me estaba trepando la pierna!" But now that you give other options I begin to wonder if that would be correct. Que te haya ayudado!