Breakdown of No se acerque a la escultura nueva.
no
no, not
nuevo
new
a
to
la
the (feminine)
la escultura
the sculpture
acercarse
to get closer
Questions & Answers about No se acerque a la escultura nueva.
Why is the se before the verb instead of attached to it?
For negative commands, pronouns always go before the conjugated verb, tucked between no and the verb. If this were a positive command ("Get close!"), the pronoun would attach to the very end of the verb instead: Acérquese.
Why is acerque spelled with a "qu" when the infinitive verb is acercarse?
To make formal commands for -ar verbs, you normally drop the -ar and add an -e. But if you did that here to make acerce, the c right before an e would sound like an "s". To keep the hard "k" sound from acercar, Spanish spelling rules require changing the c to qu.
Why is the pronoun se used here?
The verb for "to get close" or "to approach" is acercarse, which is a reflexive verb. Because this negative command is directed at usted (formal "you"), you must use the matching formal reflexive pronoun, which is se.
Why do we need the word a after acerque?
The verb acercarse usually requires the preposition a (to) when you mention the specific thing you are approaching. Just like in English you say "get close to the sculpture", in Spanish you must say acercarse a la escultura.
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