Wednesday, January 18, 2012

What is the literal Spanish to English translation?

Hello,

In the following sentence what is the literal Spanish to English translation and why? I'd like to know so I can apply the concept to other sentences not just memorize the answer. Thanks!



Se le ha caido su primer diente = His first tooth has fallen out.What is the literal Spanish to English translation?
Se = reflexive noun, particle of the verb (cairse, romperse, enamorarse)

le = to him/to her (a él/ a ella)

ha = has

caido = fallen

su = his

primer = first

diente = toothWhat is the literal Spanish to English translation?
Simplified form: Se le cayó el diente. The subject is el diente and is represented in the parts se ___ cayó (using reflexive pronoun altho this is not a reflexive case), and the le in the middle represents the person who lost the tooth. If pressed to provide a literal translation it is most often expressed as: The tooth fell out on him.



There are many of these forms in Spanish and you can find them on the web by googling the verb, the reciprocal pronoun like this:



caersele, irsele, rompersele, etc. Where le is any of the indirect object pronouns. This form carries the meaning along the lines of unexpectedness or emphasis.

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