Is it correct to say se le cansa, it tires him?

Question

Hi guys!

I'm writing a letter and need to know if this is right

The weight tires him out.

El peso se le cansa mucho

Thank you!

Answer 1

No. Weight is a direct object for cansar. No need for you to use either a reflexive or pronominal (impersonal se) form of cansar (cansarse).

So you would have to say: "El peso lo cansa mucho".

However, you can say "Las piernas se le cansan mucho", which is a reflexive form of cansar (cansarse) plus the use of an indirect (le) and direct objects (las piernas).

I hope this helps!

Hm, this is very very helpful actually as I was always hazy on when to and not to use this se le thing. If you could give more examples like this I'd really love to read them - dewclaw, Oct 9, 2012

Answer 2

More examples:

Me canso de escucharte (Reflexive for I get tired of listening to you) vs. La mujer se le cansó y se fue de la casa (Reflexive with an indirect object). His wife got tired of him and left him.

Se le duermen las piernas vs. Me duermo sentado (My legs go to sleep --on me -- vs. I falls asleep while sitting down)