In Spanish we don’t have to keep
pointing out who is doing what –
the words yo, tú, él/ella, nosotros,
vosotros & ellos/ ellas (me, you,
he/she, we, you-all & they) exist
– but they aren’t needed most of
the time. In Spanish that’s Se lo cepillo (for
her it I brush). So although I’m
still doing the brushing.. I now
seem less important!
Also, habitually when speaking in
Spanish, the person doing the verb
is said after the verb, so ‘Marta
sings’ becomes ‘Canta Marta’. The
singing now seems to be more
important than Marta. Then you’re doing something
to yourself! But that means that
you can’t ever blame someone for
getting you drunk…. the verb is
‘emborracharse’ to become drunk
….. or to get yourself drunk!
Suppose I brush my daughter’s
hair. Cepillo el pelo de mi hija.
The first difference is that there
are no apostrophes in Spanish, so
I can’t use one to show that the
hair ‘belongs’ to my daugher . it’s
just ‘the hair of my daughter’. She
doesn’t seem to ‘own’ it – it’s just
part of her!
Look what happens when I want to
say ‘I brush it for her’. In English I
still come first.
There are times though, when the
person is important – reflexive
verbs.
The following links give a bit
more information about gender,
pronouns & reflexives.
Gender Confusion
Doing it to yourself!
Indirect & Direct Object
pronouns