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Old August 05, 2014, 07:09 AM
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wrholt wrholt is offline
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Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Boston, Massachusetts, USA
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Native Language: US English
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Spanish objects (direct, "indirect", pronominal) have a much wider range of uses that English objects (direct, indirect, reflexive). Some examples from Butt and Benjamin (4th Ed., 2004) that I have adapted:

Me han visto = They've seen me (direct object)
Me dejó una finca = (S)he's left me an estate/(S)he's left an estate to me (indirect object)
Me ha aparcado el coche = (S)he's parked the car for me (indirect object in Spanish, prepositional phrase in English; "(S)he's parked me(?) the car sounds off to me, which suggests that "for me" is not an indirect object.)
Me compró una agenda = (S)he bought a diary off me/from me/for me (indirect object in Spanish, but only "for me" can be an indirect object in English, as "She bought me a diary" (indirect object) can mean only "for me", never "off me" or "from me".)
Me sacaron tres balas = They took three bullets out of me. (indirect object in Spanish, prepositional phrase in English; "They took me three bullets" is wrong.)
Me han quitado a mis hijos = They have taken my children away from me OR They have taken me away from my children. (In Spanish either may be direct or indirect objects, although there is one of each. In English one may be a direct object, but the other cannot be the indirect object.)
Me tiene envidia = (S)he's envious of me OR (S)he envies me. ("Envidia" is a noun and the direct object of "tiene", while, "envious" is an attributive adjective and "envies" is a verb.)
Me tiró una bola de nieve = (S)he threw me a snowball (at my request, so I could catch it) OR (S)he threw a snowball at me (as a joke, to surprise me).
Me encontraron mil pesetas = They found 1000 pesetas on me (I had it, they found it)OR They found me 1000 pesetas (I didn't have it; they found it elsewhere, either to give to me or on my behalf).
Me echaron una manta = They threw a blanket over me. (They threw me a blanket means something else.)
Voy a comprarme un helado = I'm going to buy myself an ice-cream. (Spanish pronominal with reflexive meaning, English reflexive.)
Siempre me pone pegas = (S)he always finds fault with me.
Me rompió el brazo = (S)he broke my arm. (Spanish often shows who owns/posseses a direct object by means of the indirect object; English requires marking the direct object with a possessive adjective.)
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