Is "me"neessary?

Question

Hola Amigos!

If I were to say that "This weekend, I am going to go to the city in order to ride my bike, is “me” necessary in the following sentence? Este fin de samana, me voy a ir a la ciudad para andar me bicicleta”. Gracias

andar en bicicleta. - annierats, May 9, 2014

Answer 1

Hello, let me suggest you a few corrections first .. (with all due respect), first .. to ride is montar (not andar) .. and second .. you can't say "me bicicleta" .. to say "my bicycle" you can either use the possessive adjective "mi" or just use the definite article "la" (because as per the Spanish Grammar Rules you don't need to use the possessive adjectives like "mi", "su", "tu" etc. when the possession is obvious or understood .. for example ,, i would say "me cepillo los dientes todos los días" I won't say me cepillo mis dientes todos los días" ..) ...

Now coming back to your question ... For being able to figure out whether or not u need to use the reflexive pronoun "me" in this case, you need to first understand the difference between the respective meanings of "Ir" and "Irse"..

Meanings : 1. Ir : Ir means "to go" .. example : voy al colegio a las siete de la mañana todos los días. (I go to the school at 7:00 AM every day). 2. Irse : Irse means "To leave" (like salir ) : Example : Me voy al colegio a las siete todos los días (I leave for the school at 7 in the morning).

now, once you understand the difference in the meanings between IR and it's pronomial form Irse as I mentioned above, you will be able to understand which one of these two you need to use depending on the context ..

Now, if we look at your sentence, you can use either of the two depending on the context or depending on what you are trying to say .. If you want to say .. I am going to GO to ride my bike this weekend .. then you just need to use the basic verb IR and say .. "este fin de semana voy a ir a la ciudad para montar la bicicleta" ... but if you wish to say .. that you will leave for the city to ride your bicycle this week end .. then you need to use the pronomial form irse and say .. este fin de semana, me voy/iría/iré a la ciudad para montar la bicicleta (This weekend I will/would be leaving for the city to ride my bicycle)..

I suggest you read this SD reference article/post ( Read This for a better understanding )to clarify your concepts between IR and IRSE and then you would have no problem understanding the usage of the pronomial construction "irse".. If you have any doubts feel free to reach out .. Regards ..Jimmy

Andar también significa "to go", entonces, sí, no es igual a "ride" o montar pero se puede decir "andar por bici" o "andar por autobús. Significa "go by bike" y "go by bus" ... - deedeegill72, May 9, 2014

pero se puede traducirlo "ride the bus". La manera en que la gente habla no siempre esta de acuerdo con la gramatica. Lenguaje es muy fluido. - deedeegill72, May 9, 2014

thank u deedeegill72 - 00b055e0, May 9, 2014

estoy de acuerdo contigo - 00b055e0, May 9, 2014

pues, me preguntaba, porque en muchas de sus respuestas está discutiendo minucia. - deedeegill72, May 9, 2014

jimmy, read my second edit, please. - chileno, May 10, 2014

what do you mean by "cuyas respuestas? - chileno, May 10, 2014

ohh .. thanks chileno .. I just did ,, gracias ., we are all here to learn from each other .. I am just a begijner and look forward to learn from the experts and native friends ., thanks - 00b055e0, May 10, 2014

Answer 2

me voy a ir = I am going to leave (destination unstated and unimportant)

voy a ir (a la ciudad) = I am going to go (destination needed or implied)

yes .. correct :) - 00b055e0, May 9, 2014

Answer 3

I guess that "me" is there for emphasis, but basically both versions are correct.

Edit:

Jimmy, I am a native Chilean. As such, and i am not proud of saying this, I do not know my grammar. having said that, let's examine this....

This weekend, I am going to go to the city in order to ride my bike = Este fin de semana, voy a ir a la ciudad para poder andar en bicicleta.

Este fin de semana, (yo/me) voy a ir la ciudad para poder andar en bicicleta

The latter is used for emphasis.

Edit II:

Jimmy: en Chile hasta andamos a caballo. I don't know/want to say anything else about montar/andar...

Voy a irme or voy a ir is not equal to ir <> irse

OK?

Hello my friend .. me is not there for emphasis, may is a pronominal pronoun here and conveys a different meaning of the verb altogether .. please read my answer .. regards :) - 00b055e0, May 9, 2014

wow - deedeegill72, May 9, 2014

jimmy, please read my edit. - chileno, May 9, 2014

¡Buena respuesta! - Observer, May 9, 2014

thanks Chileno, I am glad to know that you are a native hispanoablante .. may be I can learn many things from u as we move along ... thanks for telling me about andar .. I dint know that ,, I consider myself just a beginner and have lots to learn .. - 00b055e0, May 10, 2014

and just to let u know, I like Chile very much ... I have been to Chile (arica and antofagasta) long long ago ... and chilean people are quite welcoming (acogedores) - 00b055e0, May 10, 2014

No problem. I understand you though. Now, let me tell you that my mother was born in Antofagasta. :) - chileno, May 10, 2014

thats great ... but it has been a very long time .. around 17 years so I can hardly remember .. hope I get a chance to visit again some time - 00b055e0, May 11, 2014

chileno .. does andamos a caballo also mean ridimg a horse or does it mean ..walking the horse (like we walk the dogs on a leash) .. and why have we used the preposition a here .. please advise ..thanks - 00b055e0, May 11, 2014

it means to ride a horse/bike etc. - chileno, May 12, 2014

ok dear chileno .. thanks - 00b055e0, May 13, 2014

Answer 4

Julian, as far as being wordy, it just shows it that it is regionally used. Simple.

Now the logic about going to the city to ride a bike and not the other way around, shows me that you probably don't live in a big and populated city, in which a lot of the people rather ride a bike instead of having to deal with the hassle of getting stuck in traffic with a car, for example.

Besides, it was just an example in order to explain the use being sought.

yes .. I agree .. it is just an example meant to explain the usage of the verb ... and we should just focus on the usage of ir and irse . hehe - 00b055e0, May 12, 2014

On the contrary, it is on "me voy" and "voy" - chileno, May 12, 2014

Answer 5

I find this senario a little strange because most people would want to ride a bicycle in the country rather than going to a city to do it.

However, "voy a ir" although grammatically correct sounds wordy and elementary, so we normally just say "Voy a ....." and with context everything is understood. The same is true with "Me voy......"

It would sound more natural to say: Este fin de semana voy a la ciudad a montar en bicicleta.

To be more specific you could indicate a time of departure, such as 8:00. In this case we would say, ie: Este / En sábado a las ocho me voy ............

good one - 00b055e0, May 12, 2014

Answer 6

With "me voy a ir" it's not necessary. With "me bicicleta" it would be "mi bicicleta".

Thank you for your prompt answer. As a follow up question, why do some resources put it there? Is it grammatically indifferent? - RW1982, May 9, 2014