Breakdown of Ustedes se pusieron a burlarse del mago.
ustedes
you (plural)
ponerse a
to start to
el mago
the magician
burlarse de
to make fun of
Questions & Answers about Ustedes se pusieron a burlarse del mago.
Why are there two instances of se in this sentence?
Both verbs in this sentence are pronominal (meaning they require a reflexive pronoun). The first se belongs to ponerse (conjugated here as se pusieron), and the second se is attached to the infinitive burlarse (to make fun of).
Since poner means "to put," why does this translate to "started"?
When you use the reflexive verb ponerse followed by the preposition a and an infinitive, it changes meaning entirely. The structure ponerse a + infinitive is a very common way to express "to start" or "to set about" doing an action.
The subject is "you," so why are the pronouns se instead of te?
The subject is Ustedes (the plural "you" in Latin America). Even though it means "you," ustedes grammatically acts as a third-person plural subject. Therefore, it requires the third-person reflexive pronoun se, not the second-person singular te.
Could I move the second se to the front of the sentence?
Normally, a pronoun attached to an infinitive can be moved in front of the conjugated verb. However, because both verbs here require the pronoun se, moving it would create the awkward double pronoun Ustedes se se pusieron..., which is not allowed in Spanish. You have to leave the second se attached to burlarse.
Why do we say del mago? Doesn't the verb burlarse already mean "to make fun of"?
Even though we translate burlarse as a single phrase ("to make fun of") in English, in Spanish the verb strictly requires the preposition de to introduce the person or thing being mocked. When de meets the masculine article el (el mago), they must contract into del.
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