Where is the "you" in this sentence?
Hello, I recently came upon this sentence and I'm so confused???
- "Yo quiero que me cante al oido."
- "I want you to sing to me."
I picked it apart and I can tell that yo quireo means I want, que is equivalent of that, and me cante al oido is sing to me upon ear (reflective). But where does it say you specifically? Just trying to understand, because I just see it as "I want that I, myself, sing to the ear", it's all about the speaker. Estoy un principiante, lo siento!
Gracias~
2 Answers
"Yo quiero que me cante al oido."
You need really context to tell you that it is you (usted)- still it is the most likely.
cante - can be myself, he/she/it, or usted
Let's rule out myself- you are generally not going to sing into your own ear, and most likely you would simply use the infinitive for cantar given the lack of subject change if you wanted to sing to yourself.
He/she/usted are all possible ( tú would be obvious, cantes- it is unlikely but I suppose not unreasonable in the modern era of technology)
It seems a bit odd to tell someone you still use usted with that you want them to sing into your ear. But some areas are that formal.
Context could give he or she, if you were talking of someone else, otherwise though the assumption is that you are addressing it to the listener. The yo is not necessary, only serves as emphasis.
This is my opinion as a fellow learner, await other input.
There must have been some previous context referring to "you" and from the verb I can tell that it was the formal you "usted"
In Spanish, the personal pronouns are not used as much as they are in English, but sometimes, especially with the "usted/él/ella form of the verb, the pronouns are used to clarify, if there is no previous antecedent.
In the "yo," "tú," "nosotros," and "vosotros" forms, the verb ending itself tells you who the subject is.
Quiero que me cante al oído can even mean "I want him/her to sing in my ear." Context is more important in Spanish in these cases than in English or French where the pronouns are always used.
