Breakdown of Le dio por adoptar esa manía temporal, pero tarda mucho en abandonarla.
pero
but
en
in / on / at
mucho
many / a lot
ese
that (masculine)
le
to him / to her / to you (formal)
la
it / her (direct object)
por
for / by / through / in/during (part of the day)
tardar
to take time
abandonar
to abandon
darle por
to take to (doing something)
adoptar
to adopt
la manía
peculiar habit / obsession
temporal
temporary
Questions & Answers about Le dio por adoptar esa manía temporal, pero tarda mucho en abandonarla.
How does le dio por adoptar express a sudden or capricious action?
The structure darle por + infinitive is a colloquial way to express that someone started doing something on a whim, or developed a sudden habit. The indirect object pronoun (le here) shows who is struck by this sudden urge, and dio (from dar) acts like the urge 'hit' them. It means 'he took it into his head to adopt...' or 'he suddenly took to adopting...'.
Does manía mean a medical 'mania' here?
Not usually! In everyday Spanish, a manía is a quirk, a bad habit, a pet peeve, or a slight obsession. While it can mean 'mania' in a clinical sense, here esa manía temporal just means 'that temporary habit' or 'that passing phase'.
Why is the preposition en used in tarda mucho en abandonarla?
The verb tardar (to take time or delay) requires the preposition en before an infinitive to express what action is taking a long time. You can think of it as 'he delays a lot in abandoning it.' This is a set structure you will see often: tardar + [time amount] + en + [infinitive].
What does the -la at the end of abandonarla refer to?
The direct object pronoun la refers back to esa manía temporal (a feminine singular noun). Because abandonar is in the infinitive form, the pronoun must be attached directly to the end of it, making it one single word: abandonarla.
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