Breakdown of A uno le importa el espíritu marcial.
a
to
le
to him / to her / to you (formal)
importar
to matter / to care
marcial
martial
uno
one (impersonal, people in general)
el espíritu
spirit
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?
Is it common to use the impersonal uno instead of just saying 'you' like we do in English?
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