Use of ver in this sentence

Question

"El tema tiene algo que ver conmigo así que estoy en mi derecho de saber la verdad." The meaning, as I see it, is that the issue being discussed has something to do with the narrator so she has the right to know what it is (that is being withheld from her). If so, what is "ver" doing here? --The subject has something that to see with me so I am...--- literally.

Answer 1

"Tener algo que ver con" (to have something to do with ) is an idiomatic expression, which means that you can't translate it literally. Hundreds if not thousands of these abound in all languages. They are called "modismos" in Spanish. You can google "Spanish Idioms" and come up with as many as you like. Here is a link to a mere fifteen of them---but they are really popular.

link to 15 Spanish idioms

There are also many books on the subject.

:) - FELIZ77, Sep 5, 2016

Gracias. Perfecto. Do you have the book? Does it contain explanations of how these idioms are derived? Their histories would be interesting. - RolloMartins, Sep 5, 2016

I have this one and several more. There are no explanations on how they were derived. You would have to google the "etymology" of Spanish idioms to get that. I use it in reverse--to learn English idioms, the abundance of which is overwhelming. - Daniela2041, Sep 5, 2016

One of the Australian members is teaching me Aussie idioms. - Daniela2041, Sep 5, 2016

Answer 2

It's idiomatically understood by English speakers as it has to do with. Hence, no literal translation is available for the verb — that's how we say it.

:) - FELIZ77, Sep 5, 2016