How do I use "lástima"

Question

I want to say that I have adopted a dog because, when I saw him sitting there, I felt such pity for him.

I think I have heard it used with sentir, dar y tener.

"a él, le dí tanta lástima" "sentí tanta lástima por el" "tuve tanta lástima por el"

Are any of these correct?

I live in the south east of Andalusía and I would like it to sound as natural-local as possible.

Answer 1

Algunas opciones:

Adopté el perro porque...

me dio lástima (el perro a mí).

sentí lástima (por él).

le tuve lástima (a él).

Saludos!

Perfect answer. Concise, explanatory, and complete. Muchisimas gracias. - ErikainAndalusia, May 12, 2017

Answer 2

a él, le dí tanta lástima" "sentí tanta lástima por el" "tuve tanta lástima por el"

Me dio lástima is okey.
Sentí tanta lástima por él is okey.
Tuve tanta lástima por él is okey.

What is wrong because it means something different is:

A él le di tanta lástima.
This last one means that the dog felt sorry for me . LOL

.LOL. Thank you. I knew I would probably be getting it "ass backwards". I have heard it said but always so quickly that I knew what was meant but not the details. - ErikainAndalusia, May 12, 2017

So the dog gives the pity to me. Same as something would give me fear? as in "las arañas me dan miedo" - ErikainAndalusia, May 12, 2017

Las arañas me dan miedo means I'm afraid of spiders. - polenta1, May 12, 2017

Answer 3

Here is what I would say for that sentence.

He adoptado un perro porque, cuando lo vi sentado allí, sentí tanta piedad por él.

I am not sure if that is absolutely correct, so I would wait a bit for another answer

Hope that helped.

Thank you. For some reason around here people use lástima for this sort of circumstance rather than piedad. Not sure why. But easy to swap anyway. - ErikainAndalusia, May 12, 2017

Answer 4

I want to say that I have adopted a dog because, when I saw him sitting there, I felt such pity for him.I think I have heard it used with sentir, dar y tener. "a él, le dí tanta lástima" "sentí tanta lástima por el" "tuve tanta lástima por el. Are any of these correct? I live in the south east of Andalusía and I would like it to sound as natural-local as possible.

I would say: He adoptado un perro porque cuando lo vi santado allí sentia tanta lástima por él. (Choose this option if you have bought him today or very recently)

Adopté un perro porque, etc... (Choose this option if you bought him some time ago eg: 3 months ago)

My native Spanish teacher lives in Murcia but comes from Toledo south of Madrid.

In reality, it is more in the way that the Spaniards (Spanish speaking natives) pronounce the words that makes it particular to your region. The Andalucians leave of the Last sound of their words. These linguistic idiosyncrasies will be less evident in written form!

I hope this helps

Corrijan mi español si es necesario, por favor

I am not familiar with the verb "santar". - ErikainAndalusia, May 12, 2017

Whilst the accent is part of it there are, in fact, a number of words and expressions that are different in my region to those in parts, at least of Murcia. I have just spent a week with an hablante nativo de Murcia and we were comparing the differences. - ErikainAndalusia, May 12, 2017

The Andalusian accent is rather less simplistic than to just "leave of (sic) the last sound of their words". - ErikainAndalusia, May 12, 2017

And it depends on which part of Andalusia. My Granadina flatmate has a different accent to my friends from Córdoba or my novio from a small pueblo in la Axarquía. Anyway I was not talking of regional accent but of idiomatic usage. - ErikainAndalusia, May 12, 2017