Breakdown of Gli piace questo braccialetto, così se lo compra.
questo
this (masculine)
comprare
to buy
così
so, like this
piacere
to please / to like
se lo
it for himself/herself/themselves (se la, se li, se le)
il braccialetto
the bracelet
Questions & Answers about Gli piace questo braccialetto, così se lo compra.
Why does the reflexive pronoun si change to se in se lo compra?
Whenever the reflexive pronoun si (meaning "for himself") is followed by a direct object pronoun like lo ("it"), the i changes to an e. This rule applies to all combinations (se la, se li, se le) because it makes the words flow better when spoken together.
What exactly do the words se and lo represent here?
The word lo is the direct object pronoun meaning "it", which replaces the masculine singular noun braccialetto (bracelet). The word se is the reflexive pronoun meaning "for himself". Together, se lo compra literally translates to "he buys it for himself".
Why do we use gli in Gli piace but se in se lo compra, if both actions refer to the same man?
With the verb piacere, the person liking the object is actually the indirect object (literally, the bracelet is pleasing to him), so we use the standard indirect pronoun gli. However, in the second half of the sentence, the subject ("he") is doing an action for himself. When the subject and the receiver are the same, we must use a reflexive pronoun like si (which turns into se). If you said glielo compra instead, it would mean he is buying it for a different guy!
Is the se strictly necessary? Could I just say così lo compra?
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