from Lomás TV newsletter: A Pedro lo mandé traer un litro de leche.
I saw this sentence in the current issue of Lomás TV's newsletter.
A Pedro lo mandé traer un litro de leche.
I had to look at it twice to understand why the lo was not le.
At first glance traer un litro de leche appears to be a noun clause used as the direct object of the verb.
That would make Pedro the i.o. and le would be correct.
I ordered a liter of milk be brought for Pedro.
Incorrect, of course, since that interpretation would have required a <
They translate the sentence in the article which makes the use of lo more easliy understood.
I told Pedro to bring a liter of milk.
Pedro still appears to be the i.o. in their translation but apparently using the infinitive (traer) rather than a noun clause (que...) makes all the difference.
I just found it interesting how the double verb construction changed the part of speech of the object pronoun from that of a verb+noun clause construction.
I know...too much time on my hands!
5 Answers
That may make sense in Spanish but in English to "do something" and "to go and/to do something" amount to the same thing. I'd have said "Le mande a Pedro traer ..." or "Le mandé a Pedro que traera ...". Are these a) simply wrong b) possible but unlikely c) reasonable alternatives.
Using "trajera" instead of "traera" (as it is irregular), they are perfectly reasonable alternatives. However, you are not necessarily sending Pedro anywhere so he can bring you something. Pedro could have been in that place when you gave him the order over the phone.
Correct again: Pedro is the d.o. and "a traer..." is a prepositional object. In this case, you are telling someone to go somewhere to do something, where as in "Mandarle que..." you are ordering someone to do something.
That may make sense in Spanish but in English to "do something" and "to go and/to do something" amount to the same thing. I'd have said "Le mande a Pedro traer ..." or "Le mandé a Pedro que traera ...". Are these a) simply wrong b) possible but unlikely c) reasonable alternatives.
Is it the same in this sentence? (The article is on the difference in meaning between mandar+infinitive and mandar+a+infinitive.) I wanted to provide a link, but that isn't working for me.
A Pedro lo mandé a traer un litro de leche.
I sent Pedro to bring [back] a liter of milk.
Would Pedro not be the d.o. and is the to bring back... a prepositional phrase?
Correct again: Pedro is the d.o. and "a traer..." is a prepositional object. In this case, you are telling someone to go somewhere to do something, where as in "Mandarle que..." you are ordering someone to do something.
Simple: it is a mistake called "loísmo". The correct sentence should have been "le".
At first glance traer un litro de leche appears to be a noun clause used as the direct object of the verb.
That would make Pedro the i.o. and le would be correct.
That's 100% correct.
Incorrect, of course, since that interpretation would have required a <
> to introduce the noun clause. "Que" is not required for a noun clause; these clauses can be introduced without conjunction, for example, when they are infinitive clauses. Eg. in "Quiero comer algo", "comer algo" is the direct object.
Is it the same in this sentence? (The article is on the difference in meaning between mandar+infinitive and mandar+a+infinitive.) I wanted to provide a link, but that isn't working for me.
A Pedro lo mandé a traer un litro de leche.
I sent Pedro to bring [back] a liter of milk.
Would Pedro not be the d.o. and is the to bring back... a prepositional phrase?
Simple: it is a mistake called "loísmo". The correct sentence should have been "le".
At first glance traer un litro de leche appears to be a noun clause used as the direct object of the verb.
That would make Pedro the i.o. and le would be correct.
That's 100% correct.
Incorrect, of course, since that interpretation would have required a <
> to introduce the noun clause.
"Que" is not required for a noun clause; these clauses can be introduced without conjunction, for example, when they are infinitive clauses. Eg. in "Quiero comer algo", "comer algo" is the direct object.
