Question
8 Nov 2020
- English (US)
-
Spanish (Mexico)
Question about Spanish (Mexico)
What does the "se" mean in the following sentence and why is it there. I know about reflexive verbs and the pronouns, but i can't figure out why it is there in this case because I didn't think "dar, to give" was a reflexive verb.
Se las he dado.
What does the "se" mean in the following sentence and why is it there. I know about reflexive verbs and the pronouns, but i can't figure out why it is there in this case because I didn't think "dar, to give" was a reflexive verb.
Se las he dado.
Se las he dado.
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- Spanish (Mexico)
Yes, indeed 'se' is a pronoun, is reflexive for the pronouns 'he' or 'she':
Se pegó en su codo = He/She (himself/herserlf) hit his/her elbow
But it's also a reciprocal pronoun, in this case 'se' replaces the pronoun him, her or them in English:
I (gave it) to him, I (gave it) to her, I (gave it) to them
The word 'las' in your example it's also a pronoun that remplaces 'the things' you are giving, and I say things because 'las' is plural, and 'la' singular.
Also you can say:
Se las di (changing the verb tense)
Highly-rated answerer
- Spanish (Mexico)
“Las he dado” means you gave something to someone... “Se” answers the question ‘To whom?’... “Se” is a form of third person pronouns (el, ella, ellos, ellas). So in “se las he dado” you are saying that you gave something to someone different than the person you’re speaking to.
- English (US)
Shouldn't you use an indirect pronoun instead like "le" instead of "se"? Or is there a rule where you can't use an indirect and direct pronoun together?
- Spanish (Mexico)
@averybroom Yes it is possible to use 'le':
Le he dado
But in this sentence it's not said 'what', which in the other sentence was implicit by the pronoun 'las', you would have to specify:
Le he dado las '(femenine plural noun)'
Or
Le di las '(femenine plural noun)'
Highly-rated answerer
- English (US)
Oh ok, so you either have to use "se" & "las" or you can use "le" and specify what you are giving?
Can you ever use both an indirect or direct object pronoun in the same sentence, or does it have to be one or the other?
Can you ever use both an indirect or direct object pronoun in the same sentence, or does it have to be one or the other?
- Spanish (Mexico)
@averybroom You can use both direct and indirect object pronouns at the same time, this is how your initial example is written: "se (indirect object) las (direct objet) he dado ( verbal tense)".
You can also use the pronouns separately:
He dado (I've given)
Las di (I gave them)
le di (I gave him, I gave he, I gave you (usted))
But in these last examples you are not saying what you are giving... To say what you are giving you must add the noun along with the correspondent article; el, la, los, las:
Le di las llaves a Susan = I gave the keys to Susan
In this example 'las' it's not a pronoun, it's an article.
Highly-rated answerer
- Spanish (Mexico)
Se las he dado.(Las flores)
Las he dado a ella. (Las flores )
He dado a ella flores.
A ella le he dado las flores.
(A ella) se las he dado.
Se las he dado.
Highly-rated answerer
- English (US)
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