Breakdown of Dado que el operativo es peligroso, el infiltrado no se fía de nadie.
ser
to be
no
no, not
peligroso
dangerous
nadie
no one
dado que
given that
fiarse de
to trust (to rely on)
el infiltrado
the infiltrator
el operativo
the operation (police or military)
Questions & Answers about Dado que el operativo es peligroso, el infiltrado no se fía de nadie.
What is the difference between fiar and fiarse, and why do we need the pronoun se here?
This is a great example of a verb changing its meaning when it becomes pronominal. Without the pronoun, fiar generally means "to sell on credit" or "to vouch for". By adding the pronoun to make it fiarse, the meaning shifts entirely to "to trust". Notice that fiarse also requires the preposition de to indicate who is being trusted (fiarse de alguien).
Why is the word for operation operativo and not operación?
Operativo is specifically used for tactical, military, or police operations (a deployment of security personnel or resources). Operación is a broader word used for medical surgeries, mathematical calculations, or business transactions. Since the sentence involves an infiltrado (infiltrator or undercover agent), the tactical word operativo is the natural choice.
Why does dado que trigger the indicative verb es instead of the subjunctive?
Dado que translates to "given that" or "since". It is a causal connector. Because it is being used to state a known, established fact as the cause of the infiltrator's caution, it takes the indicative mood (es). In this way, it behaves just like porque or ya que.
Why do we say no se fía de nadie (using both no and nadie)?
This is a quick reminder of Spanish double negation. Whenever a negative word like nadie (nobody/anyone) or nada (nothing/anything) comes after the verb, you must put no before the verb. If we rearranged the sentence so the negative word came first, the no would disappear (for example: De nadie se fía).
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