Ponerse en contacto

[laepelba]

Originally Posted by Perikles

I was talking only about the verb (or verbal phrase) ponerse en contacto con = to contact. I've never heard of contactar, but maybe it's correct as well.

I was commenting that the verbal phrase is totally comprehensible to me because you can translate it literally into English to put oneself in contact with. This sounds totally normal to me. I could say something like

There was a ridiculous problem with the software package so finally I had to put myself in contact with a specialist engineer to solve it.

Do you find that odd English? (Sorry if I'm confusing the issue )

Yes, actually I do find that odd in English. I would never say it about myself, I would occasionally say it about someone else. Maybe it's an AmE thing...

I would NOT say: "I put myself in contact with Luis who will help me in Buenos Aires..."
I would say: "I contacted Luis who will help me in BsAs."
I would also say: "She put me in contact with Luis in BsAs."

Checking two different websites, I find that "contactar" is an intransitive verb when used with "con", or it can be transitive.
See: http://www.wordreference.com/es/en/t...spen=contactar
And: http://buscon.rae.es/draeI/SrvltCons...LEMA=contactar

Originally Posted by irmamar

Ponerse en contacto: pronominal.

It can't be reflexive (a mí misma); in any case it could be reciprocal (ponerse en contacto una persona con otra), although it is not, since the action should be executed at the same time. So, it is pronominal.

It *can't* be "a mí misma"? But isn't that what some of the answers (above) are saying? That "ponerme en contacto con alguien" means "to put myself in touch with someone"?

I guess my main question is really about who the pronoun refers to....

[irmamar]

Originally Posted by laepelba

Yes, actually I do find that odd in English. I would never say it about myself, I would occasionally say it about someone else. Maybe it's an AmE thing...

I would NOT say: "I put myself in contact with Luis who will help me in Buenos Aires..."
I would say: "I contacted Luis who will help me in BsAs."
I would also say: "She put me in contact with Luis in BsAs."

Checking two different websites, I find that "contactar" is an intransitive verb when used with "con", or it can be transitive.
See: http://www.wordreference.com/es/en/t...spen=contactar
And: http://buscon.rae.es/draeI/SrvltCons...LEMA=contactar



It *can't* be "a mí misma"? But isn't that what some of the answers (above) are saying? That "ponerme en contacto con alguien" means "to put myself in touch with someone"?

I guess my main question is really about who the pronoun refers to....

No, it's not "a mí misma", I'm sorry . When you say that a verb is reflexive, that means that you receive the action of the verb, and you make the action of the verb, at the same time: you are the subject and the object. If you said "me pongo en contacto con mi hermana" (for instance), that would mean that you are the subject and your sister is the object. Son, it can't be reflexive. You can't (well, you can, but you shouldn't) say: me pongo en contacto conmigo misma (that would be absurd ).

Pronominal verbs are very common in Spanish. Even there are a lot of verbs which are sometimes pronominal and other times they are not. It would be easier, at some levels, don't ask yourself if a verb is pronominal, reflexive or reciprocal. Just know that a verb has a pronoun "se" and you must know how to conjugate it.

[laepelba]

Originally Posted by irmamar

No, it's not "a mí misma", I'm sorry . When you say that a verb is reflexive, that means that you receive the action of the verb, and you make the action of the verb, at the same time: you are the subject and the object. If you said "me pongo en contacto con mi hermana" (for instance), that would mean that you are the subject and your sister is the object. Son, it can't be reflexive. You can't (well, you can, but you shouldn't) say: me pongo en contacto conmigo misma (that would be absurd ).

Pronominal verbs are very common in Spanish. Even there are a lot of verbs which are sometimes pronominal and other times they are not. It would be easier, at some levels, don't ask yourself if a verb is pronominal, reflexive or reciprocal. Just know that a verb has a pronoun "se" and you must know how to conjugate it.

Okay, I understand your explanation, but as a result, I really don't understand to whom the pronoun should refer............

If Luis got in contact with me, I would say "Luis se puso en contacto conmigo". To whom does the "se" refer? I thought it was to Luis, himself?

If I put myself in contact with Luis, would I say "Me puse en contacto con Luis"? Or would I say "Se puse en contacto con Luis"?

[irmamar]

The pronoun of pronominal verbs must agree with the subject:

Yo me pongo en contacto con él.
Tú te atreves a todo.
Él siempre se queja.
Nosotros nos abstuvimos de votar.
[Vosotros os desvivís por ayudar - este caso para los que estudien esta persona ]
Ellos /Ustedes se mueren de ganas por viajar.

[Perikles]

Originally Posted by laepelba

Yes, actually I do find that odd in English. I would never say it about myself, I would occasionally say it about someone else. Maybe it's an AmE thing.......

I think it's OK in BrE.

Originally Posted by irmamar

No, it's not "a mí misma", I'm sorry . When you say that a verb is reflexive, that means that you receive the action of the verb, and you make the action of the verb, at the same time: you are the subject and the object. If you said "me pongo en contacto con mi hermana" (for instance), that would mean that you are the subject and your sister is the object. Son, it can't be reflexive.

Not so obvious. You could argue that if I put myself in contact with my sister, then I (subject) put myself (direct object!!!) in contact with my sister (indirect object).

[chileno]

Well, you already got in contact with other posters about this.

When I said that "get in contact" is different to "to contact", I meant the written and spoken form, it means the same.

"Poner en contacto" means the same as "contactar".

I am going to contact you later
Voy a contactarte más tarde.

I am going to get/put in contact with you later
Me voy a poner en contacto contigo más tarde
Voy a ponerme en contacto contigo más tarde

All these mean the same.

I am going to use the example that irmamar used:

Yo me pongo en contacto con él.
Tú te pones en contacto con él.
Él siempre se pone en contacto con él.
Nosotros nos pusimos en contacto con él.
[Vosotros os ponéis en contacto con él.
Ellos /Ustedes se mueren de ganas por ponerse en contacto con él.

Just showing you the possibilities.

I know, too many se and you are a bit confused with that...

[irmamar]

Originally Posted by Perikles

I think it's OK in BrE.

Not so obvious. You could argue that if I put myself in contact with my sister, then I (subject) put myself (direct object!!!) in contact with my sister (indirect object).

I can't say if it is like this in English, but it's not in Spanish. We have some ways to know if a sentence is transitive or not:

1 - Direct object is compulsory:
Me pongo en contacto con X. (there isn't a DO).

2 - Change into passive:
Soy puesta en contacto con X por mí.

3 - You can change the DO by a personal pronoun "átono" (la, lo, etc.)
Yo lo soy puesta.

So, as it doesn't follow the rules, "ponerse en contacto" is not transitive. A reflexive sentence is always transitive.

You can use "poner en contacto" as transitive, but never in its pronominal form; for instance, with the meaning of "touch":

Pongo en contacto dos semiconductores.

1 - DO: "pongo en contacto" ¿qué?
2 - Passive: Los semiconductores son puestos en contacto por mí/ se ponen en contacto los semiconductores.
3 - Pronoun: Yo los pongo en contacto.

And there is a rule to know if an object is an ID: the possibility of its duplication:

Yo me pongo a mí (misma) en contacto con X.



If you have doubts about the function "con X", that is a "complemento de régimen" or "complemento preposicional", that is a syntagm with a preposition (which is not OD, ID, CC or an attribute). You can change X (X=María, for instance) with a personal pronoun "tónico": me pongo en contacto con María = me pongo en contacto con ella.

I hope it helps.

[JPablo]

Well, I believe I have read everything said/written all along this tread. To simplify things, (someone can jump at me if I , but I believe the following is rather correct)

1. verbo pronominal: El que se construye en todas sus formas con un pronombre átono que concuerda con el sujeto y que no desempeña ninguna función sintáctica oracional. Algunos verbos son exclusivamente pronominales, como arrepentirse, y otros adoptan determinados matices significativos o expresivos en las formas reflexivas; p. ej., caer o morir.

The above definition can be found in DRAE.

Ponerse en contacto, thus is pronominal, not 'reflexive'. I.e., the 'se' while agrees with the subject does not have any particular or specific syntactic function.

contact vt ponerse en contacto con, contactar (con); where can I contact you? ¿dónde puedo contactarlo or localizarlo?, ¿cómo puedo contactar con usted?

The above are examples in Oxford Superlex. You could also say, "¿cómo puedo ponerme en contacto con usted?

I personally prefer "ponerse en contacto" over "contactar con", but the fact of the matter is that you can use these either way, and nobody is going to say you don't know Spanish or you cannot be understood. The majority of Spanish speakers, the ones who don't get into forums, the ones who don't analyze every syllable they enunciate, the common people at all levels and social strata use both expressions, without being aware of one of them being wrong, or viceversa. I would say "Te contactaré mañana" (instead of the purist, "Contactaré contigo mañana" or "Me pondré en contacto contigo mañana"). And this "Te contactaré mañana" is apparently wrong. Most probably it is, but I'll bet a very high percentage of Spanish speaking people uses it without throwing up their hands in horror...

At any rate, as long as you understand and use "ponerse en contacto" "contactar con", I'd think you are in safe ground. (As long as the contact is not electric, and you are well grounded anyhow!) (Grounded on the subject, I mean, of course...)

[irmamar]

Efectivamente, el pronombre de los verbos pronominales no tiene función sintáctica, pero sí gramatical, pues sustituye, en muchas ocasiones (como el caso que nos atañe), al pronombre personal de objeto indirecto.

[Perikles]

Originally Posted by irmamar

We have some ways to know if a sentence is transitive or not:

1 - Direct object is compulsory:
Me pongo en contacto con X. (there isn't a DO).

I find this very difficult, because I see the me as a direct object.

I put my feet on the table
I put myself in contact with...

I suppose it highlights the relativity of grammar.