Breakdown of Mi hija se dio un golpe en la mejilla con la puerta del armario, pero no le pasó nada.
Questions & Answers about Mi hija se dio un golpe en la mejilla con la puerta del armario, pero no le pasó nada.
Why is it se dio un golpe instead of just dio un golpe?
Because darse un golpe is a very common Spanish expression meaning to knock/hit oneself, usually accidentally.
- Mi hija dio un golpe would more naturally mean my daughter gave a blow/strike to something or someone.
- Mi hija se dio un golpe means my daughter bumped herself / knocked herself.
The se shows that the action happened to her own body.
What exactly does darse un golpe mean?
It literally means to give oneself a blow, but in natural English it usually corresponds to:
- to bump oneself
- to knock oneself
- to hit oneself
- sometimes to bang a part of the body
It often suggests an accidental impact rather than a deliberate action.
Why use un golpe at all? Why not just a verb meaning she hit her cheek?
Spanish very often uses a light verb + noun structure where English might prefer a single verb.
So instead of saying something like she cheek-hit herself (which Spanish does not do), Spanish naturally says:
- se dio un golpe = she got/had a bump/knock
This structure is extremely common:
- darse un golpe
- darse un susto
- dar un beso
- dar un paseo
Why is it en la mejilla and not en su mejilla?
Because in Spanish, with body parts and clothing, the definite article is often used instead of a possessive when the owner is obvious.
So:
Since the subject is already mi hija, Spanish does not need to repeat the possession.
Why is the preposition en used in en la mejilla?
What does con la puerta del armario mean here? Is it with or against?
What is del in la puerta del armario?
Why is it le pasó nada and not la pasó nada?
Because the expression is pasarle algo/nada a alguien = for something/nothing to happen to someone.
In this structure, the person affected is treated like an indirect object, so Spanish uses:
- me, te, le, nos, os, les
So:
- no le pasó nada = nothing happened to her
Here le refers to mi hija.
Why does Spanish say no le pasó nada with both no and nada?
Because Spanish uses negative concord. That means multiple negative-looking words can appear together in the same sentence.
So:
- no le pasó nada literally looks like not ... nothing
- but it simply means nothing happened to her
This is completely normal in Spanish.
Compare:
- No vi a nadie = I didn’t see anyone
- No dijo nada = He/She didn’t say anything
Could you also say Nada le pasó?
Yes, you could, but it sounds more marked or literary.
For most learners, no le pasó nada is the version to remember and use.
Why are dio and pasó in the preterite?
Does pero no le pasó nada mean literally that absolutely nothing happened?
Not literally in the strictest sense. It is a very common way to say that she was fine, she wasn’t injured, or nothing serious happened to her.
So even though she did hit her cheek, the sentence means that there were no real consequences.
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