Desilusionar

[Perikles]

I have a book in English and another as a translation in Spanish. The Spanish text has "me había disilusionado" as a translation of "I was disappointed in him".

I had understood the Spanish as "I was disillusioned" or "I had become disillusioned (or disappointed)". Could it actually mean that? If not, how would you express the verb as 1st person, not 3rd?

Thanks.

[Don José]

Could it actually mean that?

Yes.

(Yo) me había desilusionado.
(Él) me había desilusionado

[Perikles]

Thanks! I'm continuously being tripped up by ambiguities in Spanish. I suppose the context would dictate which was meant.

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

Thread title corrected from "disilusionar" to "desilusionar".

[Perikles]

Originally Posted by AngelicaDeAlquezar

Thread title corrected from "disilusionar" to "desilusionar".

Oooops - I can't spell.

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

Oh, but you can. We all get distracted from time to time.

[aleCcowaN]

"Me había desilusionado" ---> it was him; it was what he had done; with his acts he sort of sowed disappointment in me ("yo tenía grandes expectativas acerca de él, pero me desilusionó")

[poli]

I hear the term decepcionado, and from context I'm sure it means disillusioned. I think it is used more frequently than desilusionado.

I wonder if the meaning it identical.

[Don José]

Identical meaning, and as you said, probably more common the second one:

"Yo tenía grandes expectativas acerca de él, pero me desilusionó."
"Yo tenía grandes expectativas acerca de él, pero me decepcionó."

But I wonder if this happens always. :

"Él está desilusionado en su trabajo". No tiene ilusiones, interés en su trabajo, está desmotivado. Puede que sea solo porque tiene problemas personales que le hacen perder interés en el trabajo. Pero no quiere decir que su trabajo le haya decepcionado. Por tanto no tiene que estar decepcionado.

[aleCcowaN]

Many people use decepcionado and desilusionado interchangeably, but in fact there are certain collocations associated with notions that use one or the other. Desilusionado tend to be used when feelings are involved or when the ilusiones are things we would unrealistically love about them to be true. Decepcionado tend to be used with expectations, both reasonable and unreasonable. Pensé que me querría, pero me desilusionó. Me juró que lo terminaría, pero me decepcionó. I would be surprised if I heard them with both terms swapped.