Breakdown of ¡Que Dios bendiga a tu familia!
la familia
the family
tu
your
a
to
que
that / than
Dios
God
bendecir
to bless
Questions & Answers about ¡Que Dios bendiga a tu familia!
Why does this sentence start with que?
In Spanish, wishes and hopes often start directly with que followed by a verb in the subjunctive mood. It replaces the English word 'may' in phrases like this, acting as a shortcut for '(I hope) that...'.
Why is the verb bendiga instead of the normal present tense bendice?
Because this is a wish starting with que, you must use the subjunctive mood. The verb is bendecir (to bless). For a 'he/she/it' subject like Dios, the normal present tense is bendice, but the subjunctive form is bendiga.
Why is there an a before tu familia?
This is the 'personal a'. In Spanish, when the direct object of a sentence (the person or group receiving the action) is human, you must put the word a right before it. Since a family is made up of people, it needs this personal a.
How would I change this sentence to just say 'May God bless you'?
You would replace a tu familia with an object pronoun placed before the verb. For the informal 'you', you would use te and say ¡Que Dios te bendiga!
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