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"Se te" help please :)

 

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  #1  
Old October 02, 2017, 02:43 PM
Nilo Nilo is offline
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"Se te" help please :)

Hi,
I would appreciate your help please I was going through the FSI Basic Course lesson 47 and I came across something that I can't explain and was hoping one of you kind folks could help me
The sentence is as follows;
"sólo en cuanto a la pronunciación se te puede poner a veces algún reparo."
(i.e. Only in regard to pronunciation can one sometimes make an occasional criticism
)

I understand "se te" when used like this..."se te perdieron las llaves" or "se te cayó el lapiz" etc. (i.e. accidental episodes like losing something or something falling on you etc.). The above senstence would have made sense to me if "se puede" was used which I'd read as "one can" (impersonal). I've never seen "se te" used in this fashion...Any help much appreciated
Gracias!
Nilo
   
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  #2  
Old October 02, 2017, 03:00 PM
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Rusty Rusty is offline
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This is an example of the impersonal ('one can') usage, but involves a pronominal verb (ponerse). The criticism mentioned, given by the unnamed subject, is directed at another (second, familiar) person.

Perhaps it would help if you add 'your' before the word 'pronunciation' in the translation.
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Old October 03, 2017, 05:00 AM
Nilo Nilo is offline
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Thank you Rusty for clearing that up It does help when I add the 'your' before 'pronuncialtion', I never looked at it that way. So I guess it should read like...
"Only in regard to (your) pronunciation can one sometimes make an occasional criticism (of you)"
Gracias
Nilo
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Old October 03, 2017, 05:23 AM
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Rusty Rusty is offline
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Yes. The literal translation sounds a bit clumsy in English, so it's better to just add the possessive adjective 'your' to the English translation. The 'of you' that you also added would literally be 'to you' (indirect object) in the literal translation. What you're essentially dealing with, when presented in the infinitive, is 'ponérsele a alguien un reparo' ('one gives to someone a criticism').
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Old October 03, 2017, 12:13 PM
Nilo Nilo is offline
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Le agradezco mucho por la ayuda
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