Learn Spanish (Latin America): A uno le importa el espíritu marcial.

A uno le importa el espíritu marcial.

One cares about the martial spirit.

Breakdown of A uno le importa el espíritu marcial.

to him / to her / to you (formal)

Questions & Answers about A uno le importa el espíritu marcial.

Why is it A uno le importa instead of just Uno importa?

The verb importar works exactly like gustar. The thing that matters—el espíritu marcial—is the actual subject of the sentence. The person who cares is the indirect object receiving that feeling. So, literally, this sentence translates to: The martial spirit matters to one.

Why do we have both a uno and le in the same sentence?

Le is the required indirect object pronoun that goes with importar. However, le by itself usually means 'to him', 'to her', or 'to you'. By adding a uno, we clarify that we mean 'to one' in a general sense. Without a uno, the phrase le importa would usually be understood as 'he or she cares'.

If a woman is speaking, should she say A una le importa?

She can! Uno is universally used as the default impersonal pronoun by people of any gender. However, female speakers will often use una when they are talking about a shared experience, especially if they are implicitly including themselves in that general statement.

Is it common to use the impersonal uno instead of just saying 'you' like we do in English?