Me ha marcado

[Rusty]

Originally Posted by laepelba

So is "marcado" the verb (marcadarse or something) to be conjugated? Or is the idiom require the "ha"?

Mi vida fue marcada por ....

While it is true that Spanish uses the passive voice much less frequently than English, the phrase in question isn't in the passive voice. I wrote that in red.
There is no idiomatic expression involved, either.

The verb is marcar (to mark). Me ha marcado is the indicative mood, present perfect tense of the verb marcar, with a preceding indirect object pronoun.

The model that is often used to describe the unconjugated phrase is marcarle a alguien algo. The model contains the unconjugated verb (suffixed with the default (model) indirect object pronoun le), the prepositional phrase a alguien (present only to remind the speaker to resolve ambiguity or provide emphasis with a prepositional phrase), and the subject algo (added for completeness).

To use the model, the verb needs to be conjugated into the correct mood and tense and the correct indirect object pronoun must be selected. If a subject is needed, it follows/precedes the conjugated verb. If the IOP needs clarified or emphasized, a prepositional phrase is added before or after the conjugated verb.

The present perfect tense is a compound verb, meaning there are two parts - haber + past participle. The past participle of marcar is marcado. The subject (unnamed in Poli's example) is a third person, so haber becomes ha.

If you need me to explain further, let me know!

[laepelba]

Thank you, Rusty - and, no, no further explanation is required. It will take me awhile to digest what you've given me here. I like the word, as explained by the previous commenters, and wanted to make sure I understand its use in a grammatical construction.

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

@Lou Ann: "Marcar" is not a difficult verb...

"Perder a un ser querido es una experiencia que te marca para toda la vida"
"Losing a beloved person is an experience that marks you for life"

"Hacer ese viaje te marcará para siempre"
"Making that trip will mark you forever"

"Aquel accidente me ha marcado mucho"
"That accident has marked me a lot"


And to make things complicated, an alternative to passive voice could be:
"A mi vida la marcó la ausencia de mi padre"
"My life was marked by my father's absence"

(Ok, it was a bit dramatic, but that's the idea of the verb when used like that)

[laepelba]

Malila - you totally read my mind! I was hoping that someone would give some sentences that use "marcar". Those help a LOT! The reason I like the word is because it is a simple word that describes a complex/deep occurrence. In English, we don't really have *one* word that gives the same meaning. Really, the best way to say those things is that something made a permanent impact (or impression) on my life.

By the way ... not so dramatic.