Breakdown of Él recolecta prendas y quiere dárselas al hombre necesitado.
él
he
y
and
el hombre
the man
al
to the
querer
to want
dar
to give
las
them (feminine direct object)
se
to him / to her / to them / to you (formal)
recolectar
to collect (gather, harvest)
la prenda
garment
necesitado
needy
Questions & Answers about Él recolecta prendas y quiere dárselas al hombre necesitado.
What does -selas mean at the end of dárselas?
It is made of two pronouns attached to the infinitive dar (to give). las means "them" (the garments, prendas). se means "to him" (the needy man). Normally, "to him" is le, but Spanish changes le to se when it comes right before lo, la, los, or las to avoid the awkward sound of "le las".
Could I put the pronouns before the verb instead of attaching them to dar?
Why is there an accent mark on dárselas?
If se already means "to him", why does the sentence also say al hombre necesitado?
In Spanish, it is very common (and often grammatically required) to use the indirect object pronoun (se or le) even when you explicitly state who receives the action, which here is al hombre necesitado. This extra phrase clarifies exactly who se refers to, since se by itself could mean to him, to her, or to them!
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