Breakdown of Ella se preocupa por las comisiones del banco.
ella
she / her (after a preposition)
el banco
the bank
del
of the / from the / about the (topic)
por
for / by / through / in (during a part of the day)
preocuparse
to worry (+ por)
la comisión
the fee (commission)
Questions & Answers about Ella se preocupa por las comisiones del banco.
Why is it se preocupa instead of just preocupa?
The verb preocupar on its own means 'to worry someone else' (for example, eso me preocupa means 'that worries me'). When you want to say that you yourself are feeling worried, you use the reflexive form preocuparse. Since she is the one doing the worrying, we use se preocupa.
Why use por for 'about'? Shouldn't it be sobre or de?
In Spanish, the reflexive verb preocuparse is almost always followed by the preposition por to express what you are worrying about. This is a set verb-preposition combination that B1 learners need to memorize, much like how we say 'depends on' instead of 'depends of' in English.
Does comisiones just mean 'commissions'?
It can, but in the context of banking, las comisiones translates to 'fees' or 'bank charges'. It is the standard term in Spain for the money a bank charges you for services, transfers, or account maintenance.
Could we drop Ella and just start the sentence with Se preocupa?
Yes, you can. The pronoun se and the verb ending in preocupa already show that the subject is third-person singular (he, she, or you formal). You only need to keep Ella if you want to emphasize that she is the one worrying, or if it isn't clear from the earlier conversation who you are talking about.
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