Breakdown of El niño se echó a llorar.
el niño
the boy
llorar
to cry
echar
to throw in / to pour (echarse a: to burst into)
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Questions & Answers about El niño se echó a llorar.
Why does this sentence use se echó a instead of a normal verb for starting?
The phrase echarse a followed by an infinitive is a special structure used to show that an action started very suddenly. On its own, the verb echar usually means "to throw" or "to toss," but in this combination, it translates closer to "burst into" or "suddenly began."
Can I use se echó a with any verb to mean "suddenly started"?
Not exactly. This specific reflexive phrase is almost exclusively used with a few verbs of emotion or physical reaction, mainly llorar (to cry), reír (to laugh), and temblar (to tremble). For sudden movement, you will often see it without the reflexive pronoun, such as echar a correr (to suddenly start running).
The translation says "burst into tears", but doesn't llorar just mean "to cry"?
Would it be wrong to say El niño empezó a llorar?
It wouldn't be wrong, but it changes the feeling of the sentence. Empezó a llorar simply means "he started to cry" in a neutral way. Using se echó a llorar emphasizes that the crying was an abrupt, emotional, and involuntary reaction.