Cómo usar las palabras "dirigir" y "dirigirse"

Question

El titulo dice todo, si ustedes me pueden dar unas explicaciones y ejemplos sobre estas palabras estaría muy feliz. Vi una frase que decía: Rumbo al lugar al que siempre se dirigía ... Can somebody please help me with the usage of dirigirse in that phrase?

Thank you all very much, Olympiad42

The title says it all? But the title is about using both dirigir and dirigirse, and your question is specifically about one use of dirigirse. Do you in fact have a more general question? - jtaniel, Jul 4, 2016

Yes! Sorry about the confusion. The example was a usage that I also wished to be explained, but the question was meant to be general as well. - olympiad42, Jul 4, 2016

Answer 1

In this case " Toward the place to which he always headed...."

Can you explain how "rumbo" is working here Dani? Gracias. - jellonz, Jul 4, 2016

Answer 2

I think literally you'd get something like:

Heading to the place to which always it is headed towards.

So perhaps:

Heading to the place that is always headed towards.

I'm unsure how the noun "rumbo" works here. This translation seems to make it into a continuous verb in English which surely can't be right. Perhaps there is an implied "el" here, and the sentence is more like:

The way to the place that is always headed towards. (Or perhaps even colloquially "The well trodden path")?

Anyway, re the word in question, I'm pretty sure "dirigirse" would translate to "head towards." The rest is a guesstimate so I'd wait for a native speaker to confirm/dismiss

Rumbo a is a idiomatic phrase that means headed toward. "La nave seguía su viaje, rumbo a Rota." - Daniela2041, Jul 4, 2016

¡Hombre! ¡Soy hispanohablante! I know my English is almost native, but it's because I spent a lot of time learning it. - Daniela2041, Jul 4, 2016

Gracias Dani. Your English is excellent (almost as good as your Spanish :) - jellonz, Jul 4, 2016

Oh, are you referring to my last comment Dani? Sorry, I know you are a native speaker (you have helped me so often) but your answer wasn't up when I wrote that. It must have posted seconds before mine :) - jellonz, Jul 4, 2016