Operarse??? ?

Question

Hola a todos.

Acabo de recibir un email de una amiga mía. Contiene la frase siguiente,

Un amigo mio se operó la hernia y estuvo sólo un dia en el hospital.

Para mí, esta frase se traduce como,

A friend of mine operated on himself and was in hospital for just one day, lo que es ridículo jaja.

Seguramente, me estoy equivocado, ¿alguien podría explicarme por qué?

Gracias.

Thanks, much better, amigo mio. :) - rac1, Apr 2, 2016

Lol, I wish I could. - rac1, Apr 2, 2016

Answer 1

A simple trip to the dictionary would have resolved this quite simply:

http://www.spanishdict.com/translate/operarse

PRONOMINAL VERB

operarse

2 (Med) to have an operation;de for

But please keep in mind se is often used in a way that allows the true subject to be unmentioned without imply that the object is truly acting on itself with a sense instead that we normally convey using the passive in English. This could be done with passive in Spanish but it is much more natural to use se.

Not he operated on himself, but instead, he was operated on.

I mean if you see : se habla español aquí" do you really think Spanish is speaking itself. No, Spanish is spoken here.

Now if it said "se operó a sí mismo" you could start thinking he did the work himself.

This is not passive se, as it would be "me opero la hernia", which is not se, but you can sort of see how you can extend the pronominal thought that way- and even in English we say at times that we did something that we had done for us. I replaced the carpets in my house (when really I hired someone to come replace the carpets in my house for me, as I have neither the time nor the skill).

You could also I think say "le operaron la hernia" if you did not want to use that construction- They operated on his hernia. But I think the first gives more volition on his part- he had it done, more than they did it to him.

Thanks Bosue. :) - 00cc0117, Apr 2, 2016

Gracias Bosque . no se puede explicar mejor - 000a35ff, Apr 2, 2016

Gracias, Astotxua. :) - bosquederoble, Apr 2, 2016

Answer 2

Operarse is perfectly correct, but not always used. It´s also very common to use third person plural in these cases when the subject is not mentioned while the subject is in the phrase due to the verb conjugation - not passive voice, ie: Anteayer le operaron a un amigo mío.

Answer 3

Thank you. Well, yes I thought of this construction that you mention, and I understand the se habla español aquí bit, but what I can´t see is the difference between Un amigo mio se operó la hernia and for example Mi amigo se cepilló los dientes ayer. I never see Mi amigo se cepilló los dientes a sí mismo ayer, but It is my amigo who is doing the brushing of teeth, so why not in the first case is it that a friend operated on himself? I just don´t see the difference.

It is simply the base assumption- you assume one brushes his one teeth, you don't assume one operates on himself. If I said I cleaned my room, you would assume I did it, I didn't hire a maid service.... - bosquederoble, Apr 2, 2016

If I said I replaced my roof- you would assume I hired a contractor to do it, unless I said I replaced my roof by myself. The assumptions we make in language is part of what makes it so hard for a computer to engage in real human conversation. ;) - bosquederoble, Apr 2, 2016

The electro chemical vs electro magnetic? Your thoughts maestro? - 00cc0117, Apr 2, 2016

Now imagine a little kid, just learning- you might say- he brushed his teeth himself. ;) - bosquederoble, Apr 2, 2016

Sorry Bosque, that was not meant for you, but that other arse hole. - 00c41cea, Apr 2, 2016

Answer 4

Esto es, muy chistoso!