Breakdown of Si dejo de compararme con otras personas, estoy más satisfecho y avanzo a mi propio ritmo.
yo
I
con
with
mi
my
estar
to be
Questions & Answers about Si dejo de compararme con otras personas, estoy más satisfecho y avanzo a mi propio ritmo.
Why is dejo de used here? What does dejar de + infinitive mean?
Dejar de + infinitive means to stop doing something / to quit doing something.
- Dejo de compararme = I stop comparing myself / I quit comparing myself.
- Literally: dejar (to leave/let) + de (of) + compararme (comparing myself).
In Latin American Spanish, dejar de + infinitive is a very common and neutral way to say to stop doing X.
You could also hear parar de + infinitive (e.g. parar de compararme), but:
- dejar de is generally more standard and widely used.
- parar de may sound more colloquial in some places and is less universal.
So si dejo de compararme is a natural, standard way to say if I stop comparing myself.
Why is it compararme and not just comparar? What is the -me doing there?
The -me makes the verb reflexive: the subject is acting on itself.
- comparar = to compare (something / someone)
- compararse (con) = to compare oneself (with)
Compararme = to compare myself.
In Spanish, when the subject and object are the same person, you generally use a reflexive pronoun:
- Me comparo con otras personas. = I compare myself with other people.
- Compararme con otras personas. = (to) compare myself with other people.
So to express compare myself, you need compararme, not plain comparar.