"Pues yo no le veo el fin."

Question

Hello everyone,

The above phrase is from a telenovela I am watching and I have a question about, yet again, the indirect object pronoun in that sentence.

The context is a conversation in which two people are complaining about two other people who are staying at their house. They really would like them to leave but it does not seem like it's going to happen any time soon. One mentions that the situation is temporary and then the other answers, "Pues yo no le veo el fin."

To me the direct translation would be "Well I don't see the end [to the situation]. So why is that "le" in there?

Thanks in advance for much hoped for enlightenment.

Answer 1

Well indirect object pronouns can be used for objects, situations and abstract things aswell, they are not just reserved for persons ..

Here Le is denoting the situation or the predicament they are talking about or discussing .

El fin is a noun and is playing the role of the direct object ..

The person is saying .. I don't see .............. (I don't see what? ) to answer the question "see what?) we will put in the direct object "el fin" .... I don't see the end ..

Now we are looking at the evolution stages of this sentence .. hehe ..

and now we have the sentence .. No veo el fin (I don't see the end) .... but the sentence still seems a little incomplete .. because another questions is still unanswered "End of What ?? "" and to answer such questions "of what", "for what", "to whom" etc. we use the indirect objects or the indirect object pronouns .. So we can either use the indirect object itself or use the indirect object pronoun.. so both of the following are correct :

No veo el fin de este problema (or del problema) (I don't see an end of/to that problem) Or .. No le veo el fin ......

Do you get it now ???

And I am a little short on time as I have to prepare the lunch for my Leo so I typed at the spped of light .. so if any one sees any typos kindly forgive me for that .. haha - 00b055e0, Sep 15, 2014

The English Speakers often get confused about the Spanish IDOPs as the bandwidth of the English IDOPs is a little narrow compared with the Spanish ones and the English ones can't be used like this - 00b055e0, Sep 15, 2014

for example .. In English I will have to say the whole sentence .. "I don't see the end of this problem" .. I can't use the English IDOP here .. which causes confusion to the minds trained in English like me .. hehe - 00b055e0, Sep 15, 2014

Got to go now, see you later .. byr - 00b055e0, Sep 15, 2014

Hi, i am back .. and want to add that English has it's own way of expressing the same .. In English we can express the same thing using a demonstrative adjective.. "I don't see it's end" - 00b055e0, Sep 15, 2014

I am slightly confused. The last example in the post uses le to refer to 'the problem', right? But it could refer to the end of anything whatsoever. We know it refers to 'the problem' from context or something. Isn't that also true for English? - Helado_eclectico, Sep 15, 2014

Person 1: "Oh, here's the context: We have a problem." Person 2: "I don't see the end to it." - Helado_eclectico, Sep 15, 2014

I am only confused because of what you mentioned in the comments about the English IDOP having a more restricted usage then the Spanish IDOP. Very clear answer otherwise. - Helado_eclectico, Sep 15, 2014

That's true for English too but English employs a different way to handle the context ,, there are many ways in which Spanish IDOP is used which cant be replicated in English .. for example .. me robaron el coche .. they stole my car .. Spanish employs - 00b055e0, Sep 15, 2014

IDOP "me" Whereas in English .. "they stole my car" ... a possesive adjective "my" is used .. so Spanish IDOP is much wider in it's scope and can be used for a lot of different things where English would use some other part of speech instead of an IDOP - 00b055e0, Sep 15, 2014

"They stole the car from me" uses the English IDOP "me", but I think I see what you mean. The Spanish IDOP is natural in more sentences than the English IDOP, with many functions of the IDOP in Spanish delegated routinely to the English DAdj. - Helado_eclectico, Sep 15, 2014

Yes my friend .. no one will talk like that in English .. "they stole the car from me" and this actually also changes the meaning ... It is not exactly equal to " me han robado/robaron el coche .. If I make an attempt to literally translate this to Engli - 00b055e0, Sep 15, 2014

English ,,(though its very difficult) it would be some thing like .. They stole the car on me (for example I say .. My car has died on me,, as it is an emotional loss for me) .. it is difficult to explain ,, some things cant be translated word for word - 00b055e0, Sep 15, 2014

Thank you so much for your response and to everyone for the ongoing discussion. It has helped me. It is very exciting to begin to tackle some of the more subtle aspects of Spanish. It indicates genuine progress for me. Telenovelas for the win! - AcercaCielo, Sep 15, 2014

Welcome - 00b055e0, Sep 15, 2014

Answer 2

Concuerdo con jimmy1978

So why is that "le" in there?

"le" es un complemento de la acción de ver, así como de muchas acciones.

Le presté mi celular. Le di mi numero. Le tomé una foto.

No le veo el fin

Aunque también se puede decir "No veo el fin" es casi lo mismo pero menos especifico.

En este caso (No sé si en todos) "Le" también puede hacer referencia a una situación o persona.

Le veo el fin

Me vio en el fin.

Lo vio en el fin

No sé si está correcto del todo, solo trato de explicar c:

Answer 3

Hello Cerca

I agree that the direct meaning would be I don't see the end of it (the situation)

but a more colloquial translation could be: " I don't see when it's (ever) going to happen" (when they're going to leave)

Jimmy and Gex have covered the grammar I just thought that I would add a more personal note lol

I hope this helps

Haha .. thanks Feliz .. sure does :P - 00b055e0, Sep 16, 2014

Good, Jimmy :) - FELIZ77, Sep 16, 2014

Thanks for mentioning it :) - FELIZ77, Sep 16, 2014

Answer 4

My guess, emphasize guess, would be "I don't see an end to him"' ."I don't see the end of him".