"Ella me va a dar el dinero hoy."
Translation:She is going to give me the money today.
35 CommentsThis discussion is locked.
I thought that the indirect object always came before the first verb and thatʼs why itʼs before «ir» and I also thought that the indirect object could only go after the verb when the verb is reflexive and either in its infinitive or command form. Seeing as youʼre a mod I know youʼre correct, but that means I have a few questions:
-
Can indirect objects occur anywhere in a string of verbs?
-
Can indirect objects come after verbs that arenʼt reflexive, like «dar»?
-
Are indirect objects required to come after verbs when they are in their infinitive or command forms, or would something like «me dar» be okay? If okay, how common is either way of writing the indirect object, meaning would you be more likely to hear one over the other or could you hear them equally? (By “way of writing”, I mean «me dar» vs. «darme», barring the possible incorrectness of the former.)
Thank you to either you or anyone who can answer this! I just want to make sure I cement my understanding of Spanish indirect objects early so I donʼt make mistakes later on!
1316
Ruziskey, you seem to think that indirect object pronouns are somehow special. They aren't. No matter if you're talking about a direct, indirect or pronominal pronoun, they all follow the same rules of placement.
If the verb you want to decorate with an object pronoun is an infinitive (dar), a gerundio form (dando) or any affirmative imperative (¡da!), the pronoun must be attached to the end of that form.
- Es divertido verte jugar. - It's fun to watch you play.
- Él salió la casa quejándose. - He left the house, complaining.
- Dame las llaves. - Give me the keys.
In all other cases, the pronoun must be placed in front of the conjugated verb.
- Te veo por la ventana. - I see you by the window.
- Me he caído. - I have fallen.
- No me digas su nombre. - Don't tell me his name.
If you have one verb of each category in your verbal construction, you can freely choose where to put your pronoun:
- Te quiero besar. = Quiero besarte. - I want to kiss you.
- ¿Se está duchando? = ¿Está duchándose? - Is she showering?
There is usually no specific preference or simple rule for where to place the object pronoun in this case. If it's a pronominal verb (meaning the object pronoun is intrinsic to the verb, like in sentirse), I prefer to keep the pronoun attached to the verb it belongs to.
And, finally, if your verb construction happens to have multiple object pronouns, they all need to stay together. No splitting!
-
Me lo quiere dar. = Quiere dármelo. - He wants to give it to me.
-
¡No te me la puedes llevar! = ¡No puedes llevártemela! - You can't take her away from me!
Wow ryagon, thanks for taking the time to explain all of that. I didn’t have that question but I just wanted to say that I appreciate you dropping some knowledge on us newbies. I learn a lot from members on these forums like you! Have a few lingots..
Thank you so much Ryagon! It is an extremely useful and helpful explanation :)
- 912
I hear what you say. Thanks. Remembering it, getting my head round it, and learning it are a totally different matter...
After any sentence involving 'going' to do something (ir) or 'coming' (venir) requires the 'a' before the second verb.
I am going to go to the movies = Voy a ir al cine.
Coming to dine with you tonight= Vengo a cenar contigo esta noche.
[Source: Michel Thomas Spanish Course For Beginners]
highly recommended :)
- 1486
Kenneth, a number of conjugated verbs are followed by prepositions when the next word is an infinitive. It's often, but not always, a. See http://users.ipfw.edu/jehle/courses/vrbsprep.htm
EDIT: The above site is now at http://users.pfw.edu/jehle/courses/vrbsprep.htm
The "a" is really hard to hear. Any suggestions for improving listening discrimination?
- 1316
If you have a listening task, I would recommend using the turtle button.
If a sentence is spoken with normal speed, you will never be able to hear a prepositional a if the previous word ends with an 'a' or the next one begins with one. You just have to know that it's there. The construction "ir a [hacer algo]" always has it.
- 1161
Hola, ¿qué tal? mi respuesta era caci la misma que la de RyanRivera pero me lo marca como error, no porque 'el dinero' = 'the money', es porque 'me va a dar'='going to give me', abrazos.
I'm finally understanding what other users have been complaining about with regard to the female speaker's voice. It's not just that she speaks too quickly, which I would consider an appropriate learning challenge - it actually sounds at times like a computer voice where the sentence has been spliced together from disparate phrases. No wonder people have trouble understanding her.
Would it be correct to use present simple in future meaning here, "She's giving me the money today" as an alternative translation to "Ella me va a dar el dinero hoy"?
- 1316
The addition of "going to"/"ir a" gives the sentence a meaning of plannedness. That phrase should stay in there while translating.
dar is the infinitive, the base form on the verb. You can translate it as "to give" (the full infinitive) or give (the bare infinitive or root).
doy is a conjugated form of the verb dar. It is the first person, singular of the present indicative. You translate it as "I give." Here are some other forms of the present tense.
tú das = you (familiar) give, él da = he gives, usted da = you (formal) give
Ella (she) me (to me) va a (is going) dar (to give) el dinero (the money) hoy (today).
You cannot use "doy" (I give) after "va a" (she is going to). That would be "She is going to I give."
That's incorrect.
Corrects: 1) Ella ME va a dar el dinero hoy. 2) Ella va a darME el dinero hoy.
How can I know to whom, exactly, she is giving it to? The dictionary hints never explain.
Object pronouns (direct, indirect, and reflexive) usually precede the verbs they modify. However, in the case of infinitives, gerunds, and affirmative commands, they may be attached to the end of the verb.
This exercise has a compound verb, "va a dar." Therefore, you can say:
Ella me va a dar el dinero hoy.
or
Ella va a darme el dinero hoy.
That's incorrect.
Corrects: 1) Ella Me va a dar el dinero hoy. 2) Ella va a darME el dinero hoy.
The meaning is the same, but you've left out some of the words that are in the Spanish sentence. "Va a [verb]" means "is going to [verb)," hence "She is going to give me the money today."
