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Se las ingenió

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Tyrn
May 22, 2021, 01:49 AM
Hi,

He had somehow found his way out to Route 2 and had hooked a ride to the home place.

De algún modo se las ingenió para encontrar el camino hasta la carretera 2 donde hizo autostop para volver a su casa.

What does las stand for, feminine and plural?

wrholt
May 22, 2021, 08:45 PM
The expression "ingeniárselas" is an idiom meaning "to manage to do something", "to find a solution to something". The pronoun "las" is part of the idiom, and it doesn't refer to anything in particular. If the object pronoun refers to something specific, then "ingeniar" means "create", "invent" or "engineer".

Tyrn
May 23, 2021, 10:33 AM
Thanks!

Is it an idiom of the same nature as pasársela?

To be more precise: is pasársela of the same nature as ingeniárselas?

Rusty
May 23, 2021, 03:12 PM
It's pasársela or pasárselo, depending on the region.

AngelicaDeAlquezar
May 23, 2021, 06:30 PM
There are many similar constructions:
- Arreglárselas/apañárselas/ingeniárselas -> Manage to do something
- Vérselas -> To have to face someone in a conflict
- Sabérselas (todas) -> To know every trick in the book
- Pasársela bien/mal -> To have a good/bad time (In colloquial speech there is "irla pasando, which means to get -barely- by)
- Jugársela -> To test your luck

...