Entiende que me tengo que ir

Question

So I've been trying to translate lyrics from Spanish songs as a bit of a learning exercise...One of the lyrics I've come across is:

Entiende que me tengo que ir

I know that translates to:

I understand that I have to go

What I'm struggling with is what type of pronoun 'me' is in this sentence? Is tengo reflexive?

Perhaps a very obvious question but just trying to get my head around all the types of pronouns in Spanish so any help appreciated.

Answer 1

This is irse- to leave.

The me goes with ir, and subtly changes it from I have to go (somewhere) to I have to leave (here).

Me tengo que ir= tengo que irme, they are interchangeable.

ir and irse both mean to go, but irse switches the focus from the destination to the act of leaving (going from). Pronominal usages can subtly shade the meaning of a verb.

Entiende is informal command, or third person, not first person, so either (you-command) understand that I have to leave, or he/she/it (or usted formal you) understands.

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

irse

PRONOMINAL VERB

1. (to exit a place)

a. to leave

El alumno se fue de la biblioteca muy tarde. The student left the library very late.

b. to go

¡Vámonos! El camión está por irse.Let's go! The bus is about to leave.

Vámonos means let's go, as in let's leave here, let's get a move on.

Sorry your post wasn't here when I started editing - 000a35ff, Jul 17, 2017

Never hurts to have two takes on the same thing. ;) - bosquederoble, Jul 17, 2017

It's like a bus you wait for ages and then they arrive in convoy - Mardle, Jul 17, 2017

Answer 2

Thanks so much for all of the great replies. That makes a lot of sense...will keep that in mind in the future

Answer 3

It is because your translation is wrong.

I understand that i have to go which is in indicative mode it would be in Spanish . Entiendo que me tengo que ir or que tengo que irme.

Entiende que me tengo que ir. Is in imperative mode. The singular second person ( you tu)

Understand that I have to go.

The verb ir can be used in a reflexive way with the meaning of to leave

Marcharse dejar partir

Which (not wich). :) - bosquederoble, Jul 17, 2017

Gracias. Bueno ni tan mal por lo menos no he escrito witch que a veces se me escapa.;) - 000a35ff, Jul 17, 2017

Which- wich- witch. Si nadie lo usa para el hilo de Heidita podría ser que yo lo haga. :) - bosquederoble, Jul 17, 2017

A beautiful answer. Gracias - Mardle, Jul 17, 2017

Answer 4

As noone has answered I will have a go and maybe a native speaker will then answer. I think it is the reflexive verbs irse meaning to go away. The writer has chosen to put the me before the conjugated verb rather than add it to the infinitive. whether stylistically one is better than the other I do not know. I suspect it does not alter the meaning but if a native speaker says not does, be guided by them.

No modifica el sentido de la frase y se emplean ambas en una conversación normal - 000a35ff, Jul 17, 2017

It is stylistically a little more formal, literary to add it to the ir, and more conversational to use it in front, to my understanding. But either acceptable. :) - bosquederoble, Jul 17, 2017

If I had realised you two experts were going to answer, I wouldn't have posted my banal answer - Mardle, Jul 17, 2017

You and yours posts , Corrections .... are allways wellcome. An the experts will be bosque Dilken and of course you. I said once I wasn't and expert and each day I am more sure about it. - 000a35ff, Jul 18, 2017

Thank you. No s on yours. No double l in welcome nor in always. An expert. I know you want corrections,cb - Mardle, Jul 18, 2017

But you cannot amend comments (cb above is fat fingers) - Mardle, Jul 18, 2017

Having spent a week in Spain I must start posting in Spanish! - Mardle, Jul 18, 2017

Thank for your corrections. And yes, I want corrections. Thanks again - 000a35ff, Jul 18, 2017

Answer 5

Astotxua wrote;

Entiende que me tengo que ir. Is in imperative mode. The singular second person ( you tu) Understand that I have to go.

Two questions:

1. Why couldn't this be He understands that I have to go. With this translation I am 100% confident that tengo should be in the indicative rather than the subjunctive. Entender is similar to pensar and creer in that regard. Maybe you know the context of the song the poster is referring to?

2. If it is the imperative, why is the verb not tenga instead of tengo. I thought after a verb in the imperative + que and a different subject that the verb should go in the subjunctive. (update: I now understand why this is not always the case, see the end of this answer where I try to explain why.)

Is it because the nature of the verb (entender, creer, pensar, etc.) overrides the imperative aspect? (up date...no it has nothing to do with this)

Here's an example of subjunctive after and imperative (diles - tell them)

Y tú, cuando vayas a lo de las orejas diles que te hagan un estiramiento facial.

And you, when you go to get your ears fixed, tell them to give you a face lift.

Here is a web article on yabla that discusses subjunctive after imperative + que, but there were no examples with verbs such as creer, pensar or entender.

Subjunctive after imperative + que

Well, I've given this situation some thought. Let assume, that this IS the tú imperative. I think this sentence is basically the same as:

Espero que que (tú) entiendas que tengo que irme.
I hope that you understand that I have to go.

Here, entender would go in the subjunctive, but tengo que irme goes in the infinitive. And I do believe that the speaker wants to declare that he has to go, so the infinitive makes sense.

Can someone leave me a comment after reading my thinking on this and let me know what you think?

Thanks, DilKen

=========================================

In this case, que is being used as a simple connector of two phrases. There is no subjunctive trigger.

Entiende que me tengo que ir. could have been stated as:

Entiende, por favor. Tengo que irme.
Entiende. Tengo que irme.
Espero que entiendas. Tengo que irme.
Espero que entiendas, pero tengo que irme.
Discúlpame, tengo que irme.
Perdoname, tengo que irme.
Perdóname que tengo que irme.
and probably a zillion other ways.

In some of the above examples, the que is just connecting two sentences which could have been separated by periods. Or two independent clauses which could have been separated by commas.

If someone could let me know if "I've got it now" I would appreciate it.

Thanks, DilKen

This might be better as an actual independent question. :) - bosquederoble, Jul 18, 2017

It is not a matter of the verb entender entiende is the imperative form for the second person as for the verb to eat comer it would be come and so on. Yes it also can be the present in indicative but I think that in this case it would be preceded by th - 000a35ff, Jul 18, 2017

Article "el" because them it would be an explicatve sentence. Sorry for my English grammar . In a bus and whith the sun shining throw the bus windows I can check well what I am writting - 000a35ff, Jul 18, 2017

The imperative not allways goes with the sujuntivo. For example corre que tengo prisa. Run I'm late. Paga la comida que no tengo dinero ( 2 p imp) el paga la comida porque no tengo dinero ( 3 p ind.) Y ademas es una frase explicariva - 000a35ff, Jul 18, 2017

Thanks, astotxua, I think I understand. I modified my post accordingly. - DilKen, Jul 18, 2017

Through not throw (tiro) Sorry about English spelling there are at least 7 ways to pronounce 'ough'!! - Mardle, Jul 18, 2017

De nada chicos - 000a35ff, Jul 18, 2017