To have a tooth removed (in Spanish)
My Spanish book says "sacarse un diente". I'm not sure why this is reflexive so I would like an example sentence which would help me learn the word. Also, it seems like many people use other words instead of "sacar" such as "quitar" or "arrancar" which I always thought meant "to start" when talking about some type of machinery. Would anybody willing to explain the proper way of saying things such as: "I had a tooth removed/pulled" or "I need to have a tooth removed". Just looking for the most natural/common way of using these words.
Thanks!
4 Answers
Take a look here sacarse to see how sacarse 'fits' in this context. The reason it is reflexive is because the action falls back on the person having the tooth pulled.
I can understand why it seems incorrect because the person is not pulling their own tooth. But look at the examples, I think that will help more in understanding than a grammatical explanation.
Arrancar is often used to describe pulling something up that has roots (like plants or hair) so I can see why it would be used for teeth. Arranque is the noun that means a car starter, a start time, ect. Quitar (remove) also makes sense.
I guess you just have to accept that not all things can be translated literally. Having your tooth pulled seems like defective way to describe removing a tooth doesn't it? Wouldn't pulled out or removed make more sense? Based on what Neox says, "sacarse un diente" would be the best way to go : )
Arrancar means to rip out or tear out. It doesn´t make much sense there unless the dentisit does violently. Hacer is used in the case in the indirect commands, but it doesn´t work in the impersonal form like have the tooth removed Have him remove the toth Haz que el saque el diente maybe you can say Voy a hacer que el dentista saque el diente I could be wrong, so wait for a confirmation
Bella va por buen camino "Fui al dentista a sacarme una muela" o por ejemplo "Se me movía el diente y me dolía, así que fui al dentista a que me lo sacara"
well I would say that you have much reason in all that tines
