Echar a correr
"Sentían un poco de miedo y se echaban a correr."
Why did they use "echar" here?
6 Answers
Here's a bit more on the uses of echar from Spanish.About.com
In its literal, simple usage, echar means "to throw" or, more generally, "to move from one place to another." See how the way you understand the verb depends on what is being moved and how:
Echó el libro a la basura. (She threw the book in the garbage.)
Echar una cuchara de aceite de oliva. (Add a spoonful of olive oil.)
Angelita echó la carta al correo. (Angelita put the letter in the mail.)
Echó el agua en un vaso. (He poured the water in a glass.)
Este dragón es monstruo que echa llamas de fuego por la boca. (This dragon is a monster that breathes fire from its mouth.)
Esa máquina echa chispas. (That machine gives off sparks.)
Le echarón de la escuela. (They tossed him out of the school. Note that, as in English, this sentence can be understood literally, meaning he was physically removed, or figuratively, meaning that he was expelled.)
Zupo les echó la charla a sus jugadores. (Zupo gave the talk to his players.)
Because echar can be so broadly understood, it is used in a variety of idioms, many that you probably wouldn't associate with the concept of throwing. For example, echar la culpa, which might literally be understood as "to throw blame," typically would be translated simply as "to blame." Example: Y luego me echó la culpa de arruinarle el cumpleaños. (And later he blamed me for ruining his birthday.)
Following are some other idioms using echar. This list is far from complete. Note that many of these are informal usages, and some phrases may be understood differently in some areas.
echar un vistazo a (to glance at)
echar de menos a alguien (to miss someone)
echar abajo (to pull down)
echar la llave (to lock)
echar el freno (to put the brakes on)
echar a perder (to ruin or demolish)
echarse atrás (to back out)
echarse un novio (to get oneself a boyfriend)
echar ganas (to put forth much effort)
echar a suertes (to make a decision by random means such as tossing a coin or drawing straws)
echar el alto (to order someone to stop)
echar un ojo (to watch or look at)
echar balones fuera (to sidetrack)
echar las campanas al vuelo (to shout out the news)
echar el cierre (to close or shut down)
echar algo en falta (to miss something)
echar la buenaventura (to tell a fortune)
echar la vista atrás (to look back)
echar por tierra (to ruin or spoil)
echar una siesta (to take a nap or siesta)
echar sapos y culebras (to rant and rave)
echar una mirada (to take a look)
echar sal (to salt)
echar en saco roto (to do something in vain)
echar el resto (to go for broke)
echar un pulso (to challenge someone, to armwrestle)
echar pestes de alguien (to run somebody down)
echar una película (to show a film)
echar la primera papilla (to vomit)
echar una mano, echar un capote (to help out, give a hand)
echar leña al fuego (to add fuel to the fire)
echar el guante a alguien (to catch somebody)
echar una cana al aire (to let one's hair down)
echar una cabezada (to nap)
echar chispas (to give off sparks, to rant)
echar una bronca a alguien (to tell off someone)
echar agua al vino, echar agua a la leche (to water down)
Also, the phrase echar a followed by an infinitive often means "to begin," as in these examples:
Cada vez que oía la cinta me echaba a llorar. (Each time I heard the tape I would burst into tears.)
Préstame tus alas y echaré a volar. (Lend me your wings and I will begin to fly.)
Its an idiomatic expression or a phrasal verb, I'm not sure how to categorize it...
It means "to start running" (in this context, its gives the idea "to run away")
"Echar" here is used to mean that they started to run, but suddenly and with great intent / resolve.
Without more context, it´s difficult to know the situation but from just the sentence you have here, I would have chosen "echaron" rather than "echaban."
Hello Kiwi, You just wrote in a circle, and it hardly touches on the point. But thanks for trying to help. No creo que haya ningún error en lo que ha sido escrito, no creo que haya necesidad de añadir más contexto. La pregunta no tiene nada que ver con tus opiniones de los tiempos.. ni en lo más mínimo. - Q Four
Lol, you have a very direct way of saying that you don't see value in what someone has written and yes I agree that the question didn't start out as a question of tenses but I do feel that if something else important can be come out of an original question that's all good too. I'm sorry that you feel I was 'writing in a circle' (but at risk of seeming to do so again jeje) - just a follow up on the matter of pret vs imp, this is my point.
If this is all we have:
Sentían un poco de miedo y se echaban a correr.
then I'd say it should be 'se echaron a correr':
They felt a bit scared and started to run. (much better than 'they were starting to run')
The same sentence with 'echaban' sounds like the sentence is cut off and something is missing. If however there was more context that has been chopped off then 'echaban' could also work although I would think that the 'y' wouldn't fit so well:
Sentían un poco de miedo (así que), se echaban a correr pero se cayeron.
I hope that makes more sense, btw congratulations on your Spanish, you mentioned that you're not a native speaker but your Spanish is fantastic.
Without more context, the verb "echar" is being used here in its pronominal form, and means "they began to run" or "they broke into a run".
Echar is a very flexible verb, and can have many meanings depending on context. It can be transitive, intransitive, or pronominal. What I gave above is my best guess of the context.
"Without more context, it´s difficult to know the situation but from just the sentence you have here, I would have chosen "echaron" rather than "echaban.""
Hola Julian (+Kiwi),
I'm no expert on the Spanish language, ni que decir tiene, but if I'm not mistaken, one can say "se echaban a correr" if it's speaking of the action before it's completion, or in a sequence. That's to say "they had begun to run....(when)."
So I'd agree with you that more context is needed before even a proper suggestion could be made (if my though on this is correct). However, if that's the complete sentence and the end of that sequence "echaron" works.
By the way, don't be intimidated by the verb echar. To throw, to add to, or to begin (with the sense of suddenness). Then you can learn idioms as you want.
Hello Kiwi, You just wrote in a circle, and it hardly touches on the point. But thanks for trying to help. No creo que haya ningún error en lo que ha sido escrito, no creo que haya necesidad de añadir más contexto. La pregunta no tiene nada que ver con tus opiniones de los tiempos.. ni en lo más mínimo.
