Im reading spanish-english childrens books to help me w the language bc i like the pictures

Question

Anyway Im really confused bc sometimes "me" is seemingly randomly added on to the infinitive verb and sometimes not so im not sure why. For example..
on page is this: "I can tie my shoes"/"Yo puedo amarrarme los zapatos"
& the page right after: "I can ride my bike"/ "Yo puedo montar en bicicleta."
Why not "montarme"

Also why don't they always translate it exactly. The spanish sentence says I can ride ON the bike, not my (mi) bicicleta. Why don't they have the sentences the same way?? It makes it more confusing. Grr.

Answer 1

In the example "Yo puedo amarrarme los zapatos" the "me" is used reflexively. I am able to tie (for myself) my shoes. Why isn't it "mis zapatos?" It's because articles of clothing and parts of the body usually use the reflexive pronoun to say whose shoes they are. Translated literally (word for word) it sounds ridiculous. "I am able to tie the shoes belonging to me." If you aren't aware of that "rule" it would seem confusing!

As for "Yo puedo montar en bicicleta" it's "I can ride (on) a bike. If y ou must say "I can ride mi bike" it would be "Yo puedo montar mi bicicleta."

If it seems strange to you, "idioms" are said in a certain way, and will not translate literally (word for word) in another language.

Sra

Answer 2

the first part I see you point but that other sentence should have been "mi" bc it would have translated perfectly...
Another question...a sentence says: "I can go down the pole/ Yo puedo deslizarme por el poste" I can go down the pole belonging to me? She's in the park lol. And the pg right next to it has a boy going down steps and they don't use the "me" on the end of the verb.

Also...another pg it says "I can clean my room."/ "Yo puedo arreglar mi cuarto"
Would it have been acceptable to use arreglarme?