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Combining verbs and personal pronouns in Spanish

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vita32
December 05, 2010, 02:50 PM
Is it proper to combine a verb and personal pronoun into one word in Spanish?

For example is this correct?

Ayudarme = Help me:thinking:

Gracias

Rusty
December 05, 2010, 09:18 PM
What you wrote in Spanish is fine, but the translation you gave is incorrect.

Ayudarme means 'to help me'. An infinitive is used, and object pronouns are suffixed to an infinitive. The second-to-last syllable is stressed: a-yu-DAR-me

If you want to say 'help me', this is a command. That means the verb must be conjugated into the imperative mood (command form). Object pronouns are suffixed to the imperative mood verb, just like they're suffixed to the infinitive:
ayúdame. (a-YU-da-me)

If you want to say any other form of 'help me', the direct object pronoun precedes the conjugated verb.
Me ayuda. (a-YU-da) = It helps me.

Notice the pronunciation of the conjugated verb. The stressed syllable is the second-to-last one. This same syllable is stressed when using the imperative mood (command form). This is why there is a written accent -to retain proper stress. Without it, the second-to-last syllable would be stressed (a-yu-DA-me).

(Later on you may learn about using el voseo. In that person, it's correct to write ayudame without the accent, because in voseo the command IS pronounced a-yu-DA-me.)