Conmigo, Contigo, y Consigo

Question

I once used consigo in a sentence, in an e-mail, asking a professor (formally) if a certain thought was okay with him. He replied:

...Pero se dice “está bien con usted”; “consigo” se usa en el sentido de “to take something with him / her”: El se llevó el equipaje consigo.

Is this a correct thought? I find a lot of each example (my use and what I was told)? Could it also depend on what country the professor's Spanish is from?

Thanks!

Welcome to the forum. =) Great question! - NikkiLR, Mar 12, 2012

Answer 1

The problem here is that "Is something OK with you" is idiomatic in English. i.e. really, there is nothing physically or metaphorically WITH someone in that case. It's just kind of what we native speakers of English say. As such, it doesn't translate directly well. "OK with you" is not normally (or ever??? not sure) "consigo", even though "trae consigo" is 'bring with you"

When learning a foreign language, we all learn about foreign idioms, but sometimes forget what things are really idioms in our own language. Those things very often don't translate well.

hth roger

Just like the common mistake of "buscar por..." or "buscar para..." - missy8888, Mar 13, 2012

Answer 2

It is perfectly fine!

• Consigo = With himself/herself
• El doctor trajo su maletín consigo mismo. The doctor brought his briefcase with himself.
• Después de perder la carrera, el atleta no se sintío bien consigo mismo.
• ¡Para el paseo de mañana, traigan consigo todo lo necesario! For tomorrow's field trip, bring everything you'll need with you ! Click on the following link for more details! Consigo...
• Consigo could also be a verb = Conseguir. "To get, to achieve, to obtain "

The English translation of your second bullet point would be "The doctor brought his briefcase with him." - missy8888, Mar 13, 2012

And notice you are using examples of either self (se sintío bien consido mismo) or bringing objects "trajo su maletín consigo mismo"...sounds like you agree with the professor! - missy8888, Mar 13, 2012

Answer 3

I have never used it in the way that you did. I always thought it was the way your professor told you: meaning "to bring with him".

Ven conmigo= Come with me. ¿Lo has llevado contigo?=Did you bring it with you?

I have never used it to mean "with you" as in "is it okay with you?"

I am curious to know more on this as well from native speakers, since I have always thought it was used in the context of bringing something/someone somewhere.

Missy, just a general inquiry here: for your example, should it technically be "¿Lo llevaste contigo?" in the past tense? If so, is your way common anyhow? Thanks! - RedLine55, Mar 12, 2012

I changed it to "has llevado." You are right, it was past tense. You can write "llevaste" too if it was done yesterday or deeper in the past! And what do you mean "is your way common anyhow?" - missy8888, Mar 13, 2012

Answer 4

i agree with farallon