Please explain why Dejaron is used in this sentence ? Thanks !
I was looking through examples of verb Querer and found Quererse was used with Dejaron to form this sentence below.
Dejaron de quererse.----They no longer love each other.
Somehow the verb Dejaron formed a negative (They no longer). I am ok memorizing it. But it would help me more if someone can explain me.
And can i use Dejaron to say - They no longer -accept applications,show that movie,live here etc ? Is it common ?
Thanks !
2 Answers
Dejar de hacer algo means to stop doing something. It is a common thing to say.
Ellos dejaron de vivir aquí hace un par de años. / A couple of years ago they stopped living here
Dejaron de aceptar solicitudes porque ya no hay más vacantes. / They stopped accepting applications because there aren't any vacancies left
Ya dejaron de pasar esa película en el cine, la hubieras ido a ver antes. / They are no longer showing that movie in the cinema, you should have gone to watch it earlier
EDIT:
To answer your comment, you are not totally wrong. I would use detener if movement was involved. For example: Estaba caminando pero me tuve que detener porque me empezó a doler la rodilla. / I was walking but I had to stop because my knee was starting to hurt.
El auto se detuvo / se paró en el medio de la nada. / The car stopped in the middle of nowhere.
Parar de hacer algo is common.
Tienes que parar de fumar tanto, es malo para la salud.
Tienes que dejar de fumar tanto, es malo para la salud.
You have to stop smoking so much, it's bad for your health.
Ojalá parara de llover.
Ojalá dejara de llover.
I wish it would stop raining.
¿Puedes parar de hacer ruidos? Es molesto.
¿Puedes dejar de hacer ruidos? Es molesto.
Can you stop making noises? It's annoying.
If you have any interest in knowing how to use DEJAR in different scenarios, then the following might intrigue you:
So the verb DEJAR, by itself has TWO primary uses and meanings. Be sure not to confuse them.
The first one is: to leave; to abandon; to give up, or to stop.
The second is: to permit; to allow; or to let (something occur)
{Its honestly a bit strange that the same word can carry such different meanings...but you can tell apart the different uses by what word follows them.}
The example you gave: // Dejaron de quererse.----They no longer love each other. // implies the FIRST set of meaning.
{But how do I know this, you might ask??}
In the First meaning (that implies leaving something, stopping something, or giving something up), DEJAR is almost always immediately followed by the preposition 'de' (meaning 'of' or 'from') and then the verb.
ex: // Tienes que dejar de fumar tanto, es malo para la salud. // -- You have to stop smoking so much, it's bad for your health. --
Or once again, in your example:
// Dejaron de quererse. //
--They no longer love each other.--
(Or a more direct translation would be: --They stopped or gave up loving each other.--
The Other meaning of DEJAR which you aren't using, (that implies permitting, letting or allowing something) is NOT followed by the preposition 'de'. Rather, it is followed directly by a VERB, or 'QUE' + VERB.
ex: // Dejamos que fume dentro de la casa. //
-- We let him smoke inside the house. --
(Dejar is immediately followed by QUE + VERB )
// Déjala ir. // --Let her go.-- (Dejar is only followed by a VERB in this case )
Quick Summary:
DEJAR + 'de' + VERB = leaving / stopping / giving up (something)
DEJAR + 'que' + VERB = permitting / letting / allowing (something)
(And sometimes you can just have DEJAR + VERB for the same meaning)
¡¡Good luck!!
