Reflexives?
When you are trying to say something like: I complained to the waiter. or I angered Sally, how would you write it in spanish.
Going by what the spanishdict.com translater says it would be Yo me enojé de Sally and Yo me queja a la mesero.
But to me this would say I angered myself of sally. and I complained to myself at the waiter, because reflexives refer to the person at the beginning (in this case you).
So can some just clear this up for me.
4 Answers
Me quejé al [con (el) and ante (el) also possible] mesero.
Enojé a Sally. = I angered Sally. Me enojé con Sally = I got mad at Sally.
Quejarse = to complain, is always pronominal.
Well one way you could say it would be to say "lo quejé al mesero" and "lo enojé a Sally."
I don't agree. Lo = masculine direct object pronoun. Mesero in the 1st sentence is an indirect object, and Sally in the 2nd is a feminine direct object.
Anyway, putting a direct object pronoun when the direct object is mentioned is a no-no, although there is an exception (Sorry, I forgot how this format is called):
A él lo quiero = I love him = Lo quiero a él (this one according to the RAE is normal in Latin America)
El lápiz lo tengo. = I have the pencil.
But you can't say:
Lo tengo el lápiz. (X)
First things first. To be reflexive the person of the verb and the pronoun must agree.
me enojé could be reflexive (both 1st, person, singular, but me queja could not (1st person singular with 3rd person, singular). Of course, in this case, you conjugated the verb incorrectly. It should have been me quejé.
....Me enojé con Sally. I became angry (Me puse enojado) with Sally. (true reflexive)
Enojar is also a transitive verb, but to use it that way you would need to say that Sally angered you, where you would be the direct object.
Sally me enojó. (Sally angered me). (notice the persons don't match, so it is not reflexive).
Our dictionary doesn't mention whether quejar is used transitively, intransitively, or pronominally, but the R A E dictionary does. quejar Notice that the transitive use of quejar is not the context (meaning) that you want, so you need the pronominal usage.
Me quejé al mesero/camarero. (but it is not reflexive, per se, but pronominal.) You are not complaining to yourself.
A verb becomes reflexive when its action is directed back on the grammatical subject using an object pronoun - me,te,nos,os, se. All verbs are reflexive, and some (like quejarse) are only used reflexively. When a verb is used in a reflex manner its meaning changes. Some examples:
acordar - to agree, acordarse - to remember
enojar - to anger, enojarse - to get angry
quitar - to remove or take away, quitarse - to take something off
With "I angered Sally" no reflexive use is needed because the action isn't directed back onto the subject. In your second example "quejarse" is used reflexively (as always), and I would say that Q' s answer is right. Here is a small list of other that always take on a reflexive form: jactarse de - to boast, fijarse en - to notice, alegrarse de - to be glad, burlarse de - to make fun of, enterarse de - to find out (get interested in), empeñarse en - to insist on or to persist, darse cuenta de que - to realize or be aware of, apresurarse a - to hasten to, arrepentirse de, acercarse a, decidirse a, atreverse a, suicidarse.
My answer had issues. : P
