"Yo quiero comprar una chaqueta."
Translation:I want to buy a jacket.
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Is the way to say "I want to buy you a jacket" "quiero compres una chaqueta"?
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No : o "Te quiero comprar una chaqueta" o "Quiero comprarte una chaqueta"
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It would be "quiero le comprar una chaqueta" or "quiero comprarle una chaqueta"
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No, you'd need an object pronoun in there to target who you're buying the jacket for and make it the object of the sentence.
Por ejemplo
Yo quiero comprar una chaqueta - I want to buy a jacket
Yo quiero te comprar una chaqueta a tú - I want to buy a jacket for you.
You can't have two conjugated verbs sitting together like that 'quiero compres' because it would mean I want to you buy! You have to use the infinitive form of the verb 'comprar' to mean 'to buy' and use the object pronoun te and the clarifier 'a tú'.
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Hi Spicey, a couple things to help. The object pronoun cannot go between the verb forms. It can go before the conjugated form or attached to the end of the infinitive: yo te quiero comprar ... or yo quiero comprarte ...
Also, after the preposition a, the object of the preposition (ti) is used. In your example, a ti could be used for emphasis, (if there were a need to emphasize who would be receiving the jacket) as te doesn't need a clarifier.
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Also "quiero compres" means "I want you to buy" and as such perfectly correct construct, just not saying what the previous poster intended.
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No, that doesn't work. In Spanish you can't have two conjugated verbs in the same clause. You don't even do that in the English translation - "buy" is infinitive there.
A construction like "I want you to buy" is formed with quiero in the main clause, followed by the conjunction que, and the second clause in subjunctive mood. So:
- Quiero que compres una chaqueta. - I want you to buy a jacket. (more literally "I want that you buy a jacket.")
- ¿Quieres que cierre la ventana? - Do you want me to close the window?
- Necesita que firmes el documento. - He needs you to sign the document.
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can I use "Pago" instead of "comprar" ?
Its been a while since I came back on here. A few words have changed.
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I hovered over "comprar" and it gave translations to "buy" and "get" but "I want to get a jacket" was marked wrong. Is this a hint issue or a sentence issue? When does "comprar" translate to "get", if ever?
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Comprar is always "to buy, to purchase". But in colloquial English you often use the catch-all verb "get" for the same meaning:
- Voy a comprar algo vino. - I'm going to get some wine.
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If you have multiple verbs in the same clause, only the first verb is conjugated. The rest stays in infinitive or participle form. The same accounts to English:
- "He wants to buy a jacket." Not "He wants buys a jacket."
Infinitive forms of Spanish verbs usually end on "-ar", "-er", or "-ir". Comprar is infinitive, compro is the present yo conjugation ("I buy"), and if you mean compraré, that's the simple future yo form ("I will buy").
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Whee - our summer in Rome comes in handy again. To buy is very similar in Italian (comprare) and Spanish (comprar) - this will help me remember