is it for me? (para me / mí)

[Calle Wallin]

The indirect pronoun to "yo" in spanish is "me". So why do you say "para mi" instead of "para me" when asking the question "is it for me?" (same applies for "para ti" etc)

 

[Mister Draken]

The indirect pronoun to "yo" in spanish is "me". So why do you say "para mi" instead of "para me" when asking the question "is it for me?" (same applies for "para ti" etc)

Si entiendes un poco de gramática las definiciones del Diccionario de la Lengua Española (DLE) te ayudan a entender los pronombres tónicos y átonos:


me
Del lat. me, mihi, vulg. mi, casos de ego 'yo'.
Forma átona de yo.
1. pron. person. 1.ª pers. m. y f. sing. Forma que, en acusativo o dativo, designa a la persona que habla o escribe. Me propuso un acuerdo. Óyeme.


mí
Del lat. mihi, dat. de ego 'yo'.
Forma tónica de yo.

1. pron. person. 1.ª pers. m. y f. sing. Forma que, precedida de preposición, designa a la persona que habla o escribe. Para mí. Hacia mí.

 

[Cholo234]

I'll make one small addition. Knowing the function of a pronoun (including me, te, lo, mí, etc.) can help you understand which pronoun to use -- whether it's a subject, object, indirect object, etc.

(Fortunately for a student, there is a rather small number of pronouns to learn.)

 

[gengo]

The indirect pronoun to "yo" in Spanish is "me". So why do you say "para mí" instead of "para me" when asking the question "is it for me?" (same applies for "para ti" etc)

Note that mí and mi are different, the latter being a possessive pronoun (= my).

The above replies focus on explaining the usage, but I understand your question to be more about the why. That is, I think you are asking why Spanish has two different forms. I suppose the answer is simply that native speakers in centuries past decided that it is convenient to make this distinction. There is a similar distinction between mi and me in Italian, although the spellings and meanings are reversed between the two languages (mi piace = me gusta).

 

[Rocko!]

He oído varias veces que personas de Honduras digan “para yo”, pero no como un error sino como costumbre. Obviamente la recomendación sería decir dentro del español general “para mí”. Las gramáticas mencionan la variación histórica que dijo @gengo. También lo llaman “caso oblicuo”:

Caso nominativo: yo, tú, él...
Caso acusativo: me, te, se...
Caso dativo: le, les...
Caso oblicuo: mí, ti, sí.

Edit: no descarto que también en México se diga “para yo”. De hecho, un familiar mío me dijo una vez que no le parecía “grave” y sí “natural” (me dejó esa vez con el ojo cuadrado).

 

[Mister Draken]

Si no lo he comprendido mal, como el castellano es una lengua romance derivada del latín la diferencia de las formas átonas y tónicas responden a la declinación en casos que tiene el latín (nominativo, acusativo, dativo, etc.).

 

[Doraemon-]

Stressed personal pronouns:
Subject: yo, tú, él/ella, nosotros/as, vosotros/as, ellos/as
Direct or indirect object AFTER a preposition: mí, ti, él/ella, nosotros/as, vosotros/as, ellos/as
(exception with "con": conmigo, contigo).

Unstressed pronouns:
Direct object WITHOUT preposition: me, te, lo/la, nos, os, los/las
Indirect object WITHOUT preposition: me, te, le, nos, os, les

 

[Cholo234]

The D.P.D. clarifies what the "complemento tónico" is, implying that the complemento tónico is the form with the preposition a [a mi, a tí, etc.]:

"Aunque son posibles, en estos casos, oraciones idénticas sin el complemento tónico (Me castigaron; . . ."

In other words:

(oración con complemento tónico)​	(oración sin complemento tónico​
Me castigaron a mí	Me castigaron

 

[S.V.]

(mi piace = me gusta).

Hello. Yes, an accident of history. Cf. me la concede63, 'se lo daré'91 in Boccaccio. The /e/ in gelo (se lo today) would be older than 'Spanish'. You could have had a me, as in Italian. Sicin iussi ad me ires? (Pl.), *¿Asín mandé que a mí vinieras? But mí, ti, sí come from mihi, tibi, sibi. The curious ones are ɪᴏ me, te, le. They came to have 'both' functions, like nos, os. Me dio, te dio una... 'merged' with me vio, te vio (Lloyd 1987: 278).

For el rey, el-rei, ille rex, a Latin [ɪ] gave you Romance e, as an unstressed syll. is 'pulled' by the following noun. Centuries before Mio Cid, you likely had more 'enclitics' than modern Portugal. After dederunt illi... pecuniam (XXX, 24), the stressed syll. in diéronle likely pulled that vowel. Many old examples like Pesól' al rey, cortól' el yelmo (*ól in CORDE). Notice how it is the same vowel as the article (ɪᴛ il), and that /a/ in al rey, a Juan would also pull an [ɪ] 'down'. You can think of Give me the money!, Gimme it!, for these 'enclitics': dezítmelo in Berceo, next to diéronli, preguntóli. Place that li east of Burgos, around Sto. Domingo.