Ask a Question(Create a thread) |
|
Me tocaThis is the place for questions about conjugations, verb tenses, adverbs, adjectives, word order, syntax and other grammar questions for English or Spanish. |
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
Me toca
... lo que pasa es que me toca de todas maneras llamar a la policía.
This is translated as "... I have to call the police anyway" The dictionary suggests toca is either second or third person - Is this is an imperative of first person as well? I would expect to hear "tengo que" or similar, is toca and equivalent term? |
Get rid of these ads by registering for a free Tomísimo account.
|
#2
|
||||
|
||||
There's no such thing as a first-person imperative, in the singular form.
'Me toca' can be literally translated 'it touches me'. In this case, the verb is being used in the third-person ('it' being the unwritten/unspoken subject). The verb is not being used as an imperative. When it comes to translating 'me toca' into English, you'll often use "it's my turn," but in this setting it takes on more of a personal 'have/must-do' idea. By the way, the imperative 'touch me' is 'tócame', in the second-person conjugation. The third-person conjugation, used when the subject is the formal second person (usted), is 'tóqueme'. 'Tocarle hacer algo' is the model being used in the sentence, and is the equivalent of 'tener que hacer algo', as you suspected. Last edited by Rusty; March 31, 2018 at 09:16 AM. |
#3
|
||||
|
||||
A translation which captures the sense of external obligation here would be "it falls to me to call the police".
|
#4
|
|||
|
|||
Thank you Rusty very comprehensive
Thank you that's great Last edited by AngelicaDeAlquezar; April 02, 2018 at 06:40 PM. Reason: Merged back-to-back posts |
#5
|
||||
|
||||
Do you mean that I have to call the police because you called it las time?
|
#6
|
||||
|
||||
No, it's not about turn-taking, but it does suggest an element of doing something out of duty rather than because you want to.
|
#7
|
||||
|
||||
To build on what pjt33 is saying, other good options might be:
It's up to me to call the police. Calling the police is on me. It's on me to call the police.
__________________
If you find something wrong with my Spanish, please correct it! |
Tags |
me toca, tocar |
Link to this thread | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Tengo una tía que toca la guitarra | EmpanadaRica | Idioms & Sayings | 15 | March 23, 2011 05:02 AM |