174. Some reflexive verbs admit
the impersonal reflexive construction, and take, therefore, an indirect
object.
me figuro
se me figura |
} |
I imagine, it seems to me |
| |
se me olvidó
me olvidé (de) (olvidé) |
} |
I forgot |
| Se les figura que son
ricos. |
They imagine they are rich. |
| Se nos olvidó decirte. |
We forgot to tell you. |
| Se le olvidó la carta. |
He forgot the letter. |
a. Alegrar, ' to gladden,' admits of
the ordinary reflexive, alegrarse (de), ' to
be glad, rejoice,' and admits also the double reflexive construction,
but with a noun subject only:
| Se me alegra el corazón. |
My heart rejoices. |
| Se le alegraron los ojos. |
His eyes became glad. |
b. Antojarse, ' to take a notion,
wish,' is used only in the impersonal reflexive construction:
| Se le antojó venir. |
He took a notion to come. |
| Venga cuando se le antoje. |
Come when you feel like it. |
175. Reciprocal Verbs. In the plural
most reflexive verbs may also be reciprocal.
| se engañan |
{ |
they deceive themselves,
are mistaken
they deceive one another |
The reciprocal meaning is made clear by the use of the forms uno
. . . otro (= English 'each other' or 'one another'), with
or without the definite article:
| Se engañan el
uno al otro. |
They deceive each other. |
| Se amaban las unas a las otras. |
They loved one another. |
| Se burlaron el uno del otro. |
They made fun of each other. |
176. Apocopated Verb Forms before the Reflexive
Pronouns.
a. The final -d of the imperative
plural is dropped before the reflexive os:
| figuraos (not
figurados), |
imagine. |
| Lavaos las manos, niños. |
Wash your hands, children. |
| 1. But always: |
idos, go away. |
b. The final -s of the present subjunctive
used as positive imperative is dropped before the reflexive nos:
| alegrémonos
(not alegrémosnos), |
let us rejoice. |
177. Pero, sino, mas. All three of
these words may be translated by 'but.'
a. Pero is by far the most common.
Mas is generally interchangeable with pero,
but is common only in literary speech.
1. When a negative statement is followed by an affirmative in
direct contrast, and when there is no change of verb, pero
is used if the verb is repeated:
| No bebo agua, pero
bebo vino. |
I do not drink water,
but I drink wine. |
| No vine ayer, pero vine hoy. |
I did not come yesterday
but I came to-day. |
b. Sino has a special use. If in the
above construction the verb is not repeated in the affirmative
statement, sino is commonly used:
| No bebo agua sino
vino. |
I do not drink water, but
wine. |
| No vine ayer sino hoy. |
I did not come yesterday,
but to-day. |
1. Sino que is sometimes
used in either of the above constructions:
| No traté
de ir, sino que fuí. |
I did not try to go, but
I went. |
| No habla, sino que grita. |
He doesn't talk, but he screams. |
178. Review the indicative tenses of the irregular
verb poner, 'to put,' 484. Review
the regular conjugations in the indicative tenses, 444-453.
|
