Breakdown of Los amigos felices se comunican y no discuten.
y
and
el amigo
the friend
no
no / not
feliz
happy (also in wishes)
discutir
to argue
comunicarse
to communicate
Questions & Answers about Los amigos felices se comunican y no discuten.
Why is there a se before comunican?
Here, se is a reciprocal pronoun. It shows that the action is mutual: the friends communicate "with each other." Without se, the verb comunicar usually just means to report or transmit a piece of information to someone else.
Since they don't argue with each other, why doesn't discuten also have a se?
The verb discutir naturally implies two or more people clashing. Unlike comunicarse, you do not use a reciprocal pronoun with it to mean "argue with each other." You just say discuten.
Doesn't discuten just mean "they discuss"?
It can mean "to discuss," but discutir is a common false friend. In Spain, it very often means "to argue" or "to fight verbally." Given the context of what happy friends avoid doing, "argue" is the intended meaning here.
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