Question about saludar
I saw this posted as an answer to someones' question about how to say "tell your mom I said hello". Their response was "salúdame a tu mamá", or "me saludas a tu mamá".
Why is "me" used here?
I would think that "Saluda a tu mamá de mi parte" would be the proper way. Thanks!
5 Answers
"say hello me to your mom"
Word-for-word translations are usually a very bad idea. If you insist on attempting them then you will need to pay a bit of attention the the Spanish grammar. "me" is what would be called the "dative of interest" (very roughly like an indirect object object in English). Kiwi-Girl has already provided a perfectly good translation. Another (somewhat looser) equivalent would be "Give my regards to your mother."
the Spanish grammar. "me" is what would be called the "dative of interest" (very roughly like an indirect object object in English)
Remember that this "dative" of interest is not a participant in the verb's action. The recipient of the verbs action is the direct object in this construction (saludar is being used transitively). The dative of interest in only indirectly involved (effected by) the verbs action.
The example that I found interesting in our dictionary under saludar was this one:
Le saluda atentamente -> yours faithfully
Why le, not lo or la? Recognize it? I think that this is the leísmo de cortesía,
Leísmo deferente o de cortesía
Una de las formas más extendidas de leísmo, que se emplea aún en variantes que normalmente siguen el modelo distinguidor, es el uso del pronombre de dativo para concordar con la forma de respeto usted. Se ha interpretado de diverso modo como forma de desambiguar con la tercera persona, de separarse de la forma familiar o como extensión del patrón leísta general. En el leísmo de respeto, la forma estándar Ayer lo llamé por teléfono [a usted] se convierte en ayer le llamé por teléfono [a usted]. La Academia la admite, en especial en las fórmulas convencionales de tratamiento y protocolo.
What is the literal translation of those sentences?
'me' can mean 'for me' - para mí, en mi sentir
So, say hello to your mum for me.
What is the literal translation of those sentences? "say hello me to your mom"?
If you use 'de mi parte' the 'me' becomes redundant but I think both work fine 
Salúdame a tu mamá
Salúdamela
Salúda a tu mamá de mi parte
"salúdalo" (say hello to him) (lo the direct object)
"salúdala" (say hello to her) (la the direct object)
"dale saludos de mi parte" (say hello to either him and her, le is the indirect object because 'saludos' is now the direct object)
