Meaning of phrase

Question

Underneath a picture in an ad for a new car was the phrase "Cuenta con él." In this particular context, what is the general meaning of this phrase?

Answer 1

I note in your profile that you joined a few years ago- you probably should fill out your profile, it helps us know how to respond to you, and helps others know how to gauge your answers.

[http://www.spanishdict.com/translate/count on][1]

We're counting on him contamos con él

"Contar con" can be used to mean "count on" in the sense of "rely on"

Cuenta here probably is the tú imperative

Él may refer to el coche/el carro, unless there is a male person in the picture that it would refer to

So it could be a literal translation of:

Count on it (the car)

If it were an unformed concept of it, it would be ello. Él refers to a known entity of masculine gender.

As an intermediate level learner I really cannot comment on how natural a usage this is. so wait for other comments as well.

[1]: http://www.spanishdict.com/translate/count on

The link does not work as it has a space in it, but you can cut and paste. - bosquederoble, Jun 23, 2015

Answer 2

El coche. -- Rely on it! At your peril. Yes. Advertising..

I love it.! - Daniela2041, Jun 24, 2015

Answer 3

The caption was below just a picture of the car, nothing else, so I agree the phrase likely means "Count on it." What threw me off was the use of the word "él," rather than perhaps "lo." Shouldn't él refer to an actual masculine person, rather than referencing an inanimate object? The other possibility is the caption was just worded wrong to begin with. Just curious.

And yes, I do need to update my profile, which I will do. Thanks.

You cannot use lo as the object of a preposition, ello is the equivalent for preposition objects but does not refer to a defined noun, so él is the option for any defined male noun. :) - bosquederoble, Jun 23, 2015

In natural Spanish, it is common to avoid using él to refer to an object, although it might be technically grammatically correct, and so often eso or esto will be used. :) - bosquederoble, Jun 23, 2015

Hence my comment regarding not knowing how natural the construction really would appear to a native speaker. - bosquederoble, Jun 23, 2015

Answer 4

Thanks for the explanation, appreciate the quick reply.

De nada. :) - bosquederoble, Jun 23, 2015