Enrique paga la manzana.
There was a sentence like this in the afore-mentioned picture dictionary. Our site dictionary seems to indicate that it's acceptable use, but it sounds confusing to me. As an English speaker, I want to say: Enrique paga por la manzana. Is that wrong?
What if I want to say:
He paid John fifty dollars for the apple.
Le pagó cincuenta dólares a Juan por la manzana.
Is that OK'
9 Answers
HELLO FRIEND I LIKE FRIENDSHIP WITH YOU
Maybe your wife should join the forum too. 
Gus said:
I vote for, Juan, pagó por la manzana. But, I might be wrong, I did not consult my grammar book.....ja,ja,ja or as we say up north jo,jo,jo.....I wonder if anyone gets my joke about hahaha and jojojo
disclaimer, this is one of my jokes that my wife ask me for the punch line.
Natasha said:
Ha ha. Personally, I like samdie's analogy because it helps me remember how to use pagar. I understood Lazarus' first post but his second one was a little bit . . . ethereal.Do I understand that this sentence
agó a Juan por la manzana.would be more natural-sounding than the one I wrote first'Thank you for all the help, everyone.
Gus said:
with all due respect to James and Lazarus 1907 no ofense inteded but you guys make Spanish sound too complicated
>
I vote for, Juan, pagó por la manzana.
But, I might be wrong, I did not consult my grammar book.....ja,ja,ja or as we say up north jo,jo,jo.....I wonder if anyone gets my joke about hahaha and jojojo
disclaimer, this is one of my jokes that my wife ask me for the punch line.
Natasha said:
Ha ha. Personally, I like samdie's analogy because it helps me remember how to use pagar. I understood Lazarus' first post but his second one was a little bit . . . ethereal.Do I understand that this sentence
Gus said:
with all due respect to James and Lazarus 1907 no ofense inteded but you guys make Spanish sound too complicated
>
Ha ha. Personally, I like samdie's analogy because it helps me remember how to use pagar. I understood Lazarus' first post but his second one was a little bit . . . ethereal.
Do I understand that this sentence:
Pagó a Juan por la manzana.
would be more natural-sounding than the one I wrote first?
Thank you for all the help, everyone.
Gus said:
with all due respect to James and Lazarus 1907 no ofense inteded but you guys make Spanish sound too complicated
>
with all due respect to James and Lazarus 1907 no ofense inteded but you guys make Spanish sound too complicated
No flame this time, James. Each language has its own way to express things, and the Spanish way is: the core idea that it is intended with "pagar" is going to be the direct object, as usual, but this "core" can be a payee, an object or a sum of money. Any other secondary ideas are expressed with other prepositions to compensate for the gaps, including indirect objects.
A sentence like "Enrique paga" is not enough for a native to process it fully, but its most likely interpretation -without a context- could easily be "the bill".
samdie said:
lazarus1907 said:
If your sentence has only "pagar" and something else (i.e. a person, an amount or a purchase), this is normally the direct object, so "pagar la manzana", on its own, its more common than "pagar por la manzana".
Similar, then, to the English "Henry paid the rent." as opposed to the more explicit "Henry paid the amount due for the rent."?
I don't think that's the same thing. Rent here means money paid for the privilege of living somewhere, and as such it isn't the thing you get for your money. The house or apartment is. This is similar to "He paid the bill." The bill wasn't what he wanted, but rather the food, etc.
I often think Spanish is more logical than English, but in this case, English seems more logical to me. That is, when we say Enrique paga, that means he exchanges money with someone for something he desires. This is the prototypical meaning of por in Spanish, "in exchange for." So, to me, it would be more logical to say it the way Natasha wanted to (although I already knew that what Lazarus has said was true).
Waiting for the flame,
lazarus1907 said:
If your sentence has only "pagar" and something else (i.e. a person, an amount or a purchase), this is normally the direct object, so "pagar la manzana", on its own, its more common than "pagar por la manzana".
Similar, then, to the English "Henry paid the rent." as opposed to the more explicit "Henry paid the amount due for the rent."'
It is OK, but maybe I'd have chosen a different order: "Le pagó/dio a Juan cincuenta...". Now, bear in mind that "pagar" can be used in many different ways:
1) If the direct object is the amount, then you can add a complement with "por" or "de" to indicate what you get for your money: Pagó 1000 euros por la casa.
2) If the direct object is your purchase, then you can add a complement with "con" or "en" to indicate how is it paid: Pagó la cuenta con la tarjeta / en efectivo.
3) The direct object can also be the payee, and it is often followed by another complement with "por": Pagar al fontanero por la reparación.
If your sentence has only "pagar" and something else (i.e. a person, an amount or a purchase), this is normally the direct object, so "pagar la manzana", on its own, its more common than "pagar por la manzana".
