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Pronoun placementThis is the place for questions about conjugations, verb tenses, adverbs, adjectives, word order, syntax and other grammar questions for English or Spanish. |
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#1
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Pronoun placement
I am confused on when to place a pronoun before the verb or after it. If I wanted to say: "Give the me hole punch", would I say "me da el perforadora" or "dame el perforadora?"
Thanks Howard |
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#2
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Give me is a command, or an imperative. In the imperative, pronouns are suffixed. Note that the originally stressed syllable of the imperative must be retained through the addition of pronouns!
Dame la perforadora. (Dar is a single-syllable verb, so suffixing the indirect object pronoun me to it doesn't change which syllable is stressed - the normal second-to-the-last syllable is stressed, and this means the only syllable of the imperative receives the stress.) Dámela. (Give it to me. The addition of both the direct and indirect object pronouns requires an accent in the imperative to retain the original stress. Without the accent, the second-to-the-last syllable would fall on the indirect object and the command could be misunderstood.) If you want to say, "Are you giving me the hole punch," you would be using the indicative, present tense (asking a question, of course). In that case, the object pronouns precede the verb: ¿Me da la perforadora? ¿Me la da? Last edited by Rusty; October 23, 2008 at 03:31 PM. |
#3
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Thanks! Don't know why I treated it as masculine. I know better.
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#4
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I might add that something like "¿Me da la perforadora?" is an extremely common way to request something and commanding someone to give it to you. It is literally "Are you giving me the hole punch?" or "Do you give me the hole punch?", but it is used in the same way we would use "Can you/will you give me the hole punch?" in English.
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If you find something wrong with my Spanish, please correct it! |
#5
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Hey! How about......
¿Me das la cosa esa que hace hoyitos, por favor?
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Elaina All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them. Walt Disney |
#6
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You've been around native speakers too much.
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If you find something wrong with my Spanish, please correct it! |
#7
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Very good, Elaina
Los hoyitos son los dimples. If you find a machine making dimples, let me know, I can do with one on each cheek |
#8
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Pueden ser hoyitos de hoyo y no hoyitos de dimples!
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Elaina All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them. Walt Disney |
#9
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Dimples = hoyuelos (not hoyitos!!)
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Elaina All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them. Walt Disney |
#10
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my spanish and yours will both improve ^^
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