el perro nos come las plantas

[ElmerRamone]

I ran across a Duolingo sentence that said: El jardinero compró un perro que ahora nos come las plantas. Is there a reason for saying it this way instead of ´´que ahora come nuestras plantas.´´ ? Or is this just a simple variation and no big deal?

[Upbeat 88]

good question

[EranBarLev]

In Hebrew we use exactly the same structure: "הכלב אוכל לנו את הפרחים". So it seems natural to me. I think both sentences are correct, but I don't know which one is more common.

[Cifi]

I think this is "possessive dative", and as far as I know it's very common in Spanish.

Here's more about it: https://www.espanolavanzado.com/gramati ... el-sentido

[orojasp]

In Hebrew we use exactly the same structure: "הכלב אוכל לנו את הפרחים". So it seems natural to me. I think both sentences are correct, but I don't know which one is more common.

Both are common but maybe 'nos come las plantas' is a little less formal than 'se come nuestras plantas'

[gmads]

By using "nos" the speaker is basically expressing a higher level of discontent by the actions of the dog.

• El perro come (from the verb, "comer") las plantas.
  This sentence tends to sound a bit strange because of the definite article "las." This usage of the verb "comer" works better with an indefinite direct complement, as in, "el perro come plantas" because it describes a usual action. Compare, "the dog eats the plants" vs. "the dog eats plants".

• El perro se come (from the pronominal verb, "comerse") las plantas.
  In this case, the pronominal verb works better, given the definite direct complement ("las plantas"), as it describes a particular event. This sentence could be translated as "the dog is eating the plants" (not necessarily in that precise moment, but denoting something that is happening in the present).

• El perro se come nuestras plantas.
  Once again, here the pronominal verb works better because of the definiteness ("nuestras plantas") and the idea that it is eating them all. This sentence can be translated as "the dog is eating our plants". In this sentence, "nuestras plantas" is the direct complement (what is being eaten) and can be substituted by the direct personal pronoun, "las," as in: "el perro se las come" ("the dog eats them").

• El perro nos come.
  Here we are using the first person plural direct personal pronoun "nos," which substitutes the direct complement, "a nosotros." This sentence is translated as "the dog eats us."

• El perro come las plantas de nosotros.
  This is not a natural or correct sentence, but I am forcing a bit the grammar just to set the idea that will take us to the final sentence, the one expressed in this thread. What I want to remark here is the presence of both a direct and an indirect complement: "las plantas" being the direct complement, and "de nosotros" acting as the indirect complement (as we are the ones being affected by the action of the dog). If I were to substitute both complements with their respective pronouns, I would then get the following sentence: "el perro nos las come." Yes, it is a weird sentence because "comer" is a transitive verb and does not accept an indirect complement, but as I said, I just want to use it to get to the final sentence. If I were to use a verb that uses both complements I could then choose "comprar" (to buy), "mi mamá nos compra unas galletas" ("my mother buys us some cookies") --> "mi mamá nos las compra" ("my mother buys them to us").

• El perro nos come las plantas.
  We have finally reached our destination! Now it should be relatively easy to see that the "nos" part is working as an indirect personal pronoun, and while the verb normally does not accept it (as this verb does not use an indirect complement), its usage in this case involves us (the "nosotros" part) in a very personal way because we are feeling quite upset about the dog eating our plants!

The lesson to be learned in this kind of expressions is that when a verb is used in a pronominal fashion (or in seemingly reflexive way), it is usually to denote a higher degree of involvement of the agent in the situation, which can be either positive or negative.

A classic positive example is with the verb "beber" ("to drink"). When used in a pronominal way it denotes a higher level of enjoyment than usual. So if I say, "me voy a beber un café" (lit. "I am going to drink myself a coffee"), that means that I am trying to convey the idea that I am going to really enjoy my coffee, or that I have a higher than usual need for a coffee.

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