Does Spanish have a Psuedo-Passive Voice?

Question

¿Tiene español una voz "psuedo-passive" ? Tal como en inglés: "I had the car washed." ¿Cómo se podría traducir eso?

Does Spanish have a psuedo passive voice? Like in the example above, how would I translate that into Spanish?

Would it be something like: "Hube que se lavó el carro." or "Hube el carro lavado." or "Hice que se lavara el carro." or "Se me lavó el carro."

Could you please tell me which one is the best and which ones would make sense, if any?

Answer 1

would any of my examples work? - Himself12794

You are trying to translate an idiomatic phrase and it doesn´t work.

However, "Se me lavó el carro" is possible if you give more context such as previously identifying the person doing the washing.

"Hice que se lavara el carro" would mean "I made the car wash itself."

The others make no sense at all. Attempting to translate idiomatic phrases is the kiss of death. Don´t waste your time.

actually I didn't know it was considered an idiomatic phrase, I found a wikipedia article on it and wondered this - Himself12794, Jan 23, 2012

Answer 2

"Llevé el coche a que me lo lavaran" or simply "Me lavaron el coche."

IN Spain we are different, jeje, we just say:

Lavé el coche, even though you didn't do it yourself

Look at my learning thread on that topic

muchas gracias amiga! - billygoat, Jan 23, 2012

Answer 3

It´s not a passive voice at all, but we can say, ie "Llevé el coche a que me lo lavaran" or simply "Me lavaron el coche."

would any of my examples work? - Himself12794, Jan 22, 2012

Julian, is the 2nd one with "me" a dative of interest? - 0074b507, Jan 23, 2012

Answer 4

Click on Heidi's thread

But I don't think it really resolved all the questions about this grammar question.

I thought the "to have something done" form in Spanish was like this:

"Los diabéticos deben hacerse un examen cada 3 meses" for example. -

In other words it does not say they are doing it themselves.

Also "to get something done" can mean "to have something done"

but

It can also mean "to achieve something oneself" which is not the same as "to have something done".

Also "I must have.........." puts the "must" into the past or = "I need to have........."

Answer 5

i would say " llevé el coche a lavar" "i had the car washed"(by someone else) doesnt translate exactly, at least as far as i know. "i had washed the car"is " hube lavado el coche"

perhaps it could be something like, "mandé que se lavara el carro"? - Himself12794, Jan 23, 2012

Answer 6

Here's a quick way to translate your sentences, and my Spanish translation of your sentence.

Hube que se lavó el carro : I had the car which was washed. Hice que se lavara el carro: I had to wash the car.

Hube el carro lavado: I had the car washed. This is the correct form of the sentence. You can also say:

Yo tenía el coche lavado.

Hope I helped! (:

-Cindy