The Spanish Pronoun - Part 2

Such expressions as "I did it myself," "You write it yourself," "we spoke to him himself," are translated "Yo mismo lo hice," "V. mismo lo escribe," "Le hablamos á él mismo."

Notice the following idiomatic uses of Lo, La, Los, Las with the verbs haber and hacer:

• ¿Hay dinero? Is there money?--Sí, lo hay: Yes, there is some.
• ¿Hay pasividades? Are there any liabilities?--Sí, las hay: Yes, there are some.
• ¿Hace dos días? Is it two days ago?--No, no los hace: No, it is not.
• ¿Hace una semana? Is it a week ago?--Sí, la hace: Yes, it is.
• ¿Hace falta escribir? Is it necessary to write?--La hace, mucho: Yes, very necessary.

In the case of two verbs governing each other as "ir á ver" (to go and see), "mandar hacer" (to have made), etc., a conjunctive pronoun, occurring, may be taken by either verb, as:

• Irle á ver or ir á verle: To go and see him.
• Mandarlo hacer or Mandar hacerlo: To have it made.

An object pronoun after a preposition may often be either ordinary or reflexive as in English, as:

• Los abogados han zanjado el asunto entre sí or entre ellos: The lawyers compromised the matter amongst themselves (or them).

Of course él, ella, ellos, ellas, cannot be used with reference to "V." "Vs.":

• Vs. lo han arreglado entre sí or entre Vs. (but not entre ellos): You have arranged it between yourselves.

• Aqueste, etc., aquese, etc., for este, ese, etc.
• Estotro, esotro, etc., for este otro, ese otro, etc.

The English expressions "I have not seen him these three months," etc., should be translated "Hace or ha tres meses que no le veo," "Hace or ha tres meses que no le he visto," "No le he visto (or no le veo) desde hace tres meses," "Hace (or ha) tres meses desde que le ví la última vez."

"I have been writing these three hours," is translated "Hace tres horas que escribo (estoy escribiendo)," "Escribo" (estoy escribiendo) desde hace tres horas.

• Lo dí a un cliente, cuyo cliente lo pasó á un amigo de él: I gave it to a customer which customer handed it to a friend of his.

The correct grammatical construction would be "el cual cliente"; but however much some grammarians disclaim this employment of cuyo, it is in the language and found in the best books and therefore must be accepted.

• Tengo algo (de) bueno: I have something good.
• No tengo nada (de) bueno: I have nothing good.

Un nada is used as a noun, as:

• Un nada le asusta: A nothing frightens him.

La nada--nothingness.