A mí for emphatic placement

[Nfqufktc]

¡Hola!


I would appreciate it if you could comment on the following:

In this exercise the task is to use all the elements in the string to create a grammatically correct sentence in Spanish, using only object pronouns for all noun objects of verbs.

Los niños / romper / (ventana) / (a mí) / el domingo pasado.

1. The neutral sentence
A. Los niños me rompieron la ventana el domingo pasado.

The children broke my window last Sunday. Please note that translation is different from the Spanish construction.

The translation ‘The children broke me the window last Sunday.’ sounds lame.

The translation ‘The children broke my window for me last Sunday.’ is not good either, as if I had invited them to commit that act of vandalism.

Would you suggest something else?

B. Los niños me la rompieron el domingo pasado.

The children broke it for me last Sunday.?

The children broke it to me last Sunday. ?

The children broke me it last Sunday. ?

I can’t use ‘my window’ here.
Would you suggest something else?

2. The emphatic sentence
A. Los niños me rompieron la ventana a mí el domingo pasado.
Would you point out a shade in meaning for variant A?


B. A mí los niños me la rompieron el domingo pasado.
I would offer the following translation for variant B:
It chanced to be my window that those children had smashed.
Would you consider it an appopriate translation?

Thank you.

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

1. A. The children broke my window last Sunday. Actually, this is the best translation for the Spanish sentence. A word for word translation is usually not possible.

"Me" is used in Spanish, as if the thing was done to myself, and in English you focus on your property.
In Spanish you can say "Los niños rompieron mi ventana", but that's a more neutral sentence. If you want to convey more annoyance, "me" is a better choice.

1.B. Los niños me la rompieron el domingo pasado.
The children broke it for me last Sunday.?

The children broke it to me last Sunday. ? -> Probably, but I think in English this sounds like you got injured, which is not what the idea is ever in Spanish.

The children broke me it last Sunday.-> I don't know if this is a valid sentence in English, but I don't think this is a good translation, since it's a lot less frequent in English than the original is in Spanish.
Just use "They broke it last Sundaay." Although the "personal grievance" is missing, you are closer to the meaning in Spanish.

2. A. Los niños me rompieron la ventana a mí el domingo pasado.I will let others propose a better translation, but I think that emphasizing your property might work: It was my window they broke!

Originally Posted by Nfqufktc

B. A mí los niños me la rompieron el domingo pasado.
I would offer the following translation for variant B:
It chanced to be my window that those children had smashed.
-> This is alright, but you're mentioning the window that you replaced with "la" in the sentence, so maybe something like: "It was mine the one the children broke last Sunday!"

[Nfqufktc]

Thank you, AngelicaDeAlquezar.

[poli]

Originally Posted by AngelicaDeAlquezar

1. A. The children broke my window last Sunday. Actually, this is the best translation for the Spanish sentence. A word for word translation is usually not possible.

"Me" is used in Spanish, as if the thing was done to myself, and in English you focus on your property.
In Spanish you can say "Los niños rompieron mi ventana", but that's a more neutral sentence. If you want to convey more annoyance, "me" is a better choice.

1.B. Los niños me la rompieron el domingo pasado.
The children broke it for me last Sunday.?

I think a good translation in English would be, the children broke mine last Sunday.

The children broke it to me last Sunday. ? -> Probably, but I think in English this sounds like you got injured, which is not what the idea is ever in Spanish.

The children broke me it last Sunday.-> I don't know if this is a valid sentence in English, but I don't think this is a good translation, since it's a lot less frequent in English than the original is in Spanish.
Just use "They broke it last Sunday." Although the "personal grievance" is missing, you are closer to the meaning in Spanish.

2. A. Los niños me rompieron la ventana a mí el domingo pasado.I will let others propose a better translation, but I think that emphasizing your property might work: It was my window they broke!

Thanks, as always for your detailed answers to complicated questions. I think a good English translation to 1B would be, the
children broke mine last Sunday. (sometning like, los niños rompieron la mía el domingo pasado.)

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

Thank you, Poli! Translating is my kryptonite.
And I'm glad I can help.