9.1.2: Verbos pronominales

A. Algunos verbos son casi siempre pronominales:

A. Some verbs are almost always pronominal:

to repent, to regret, to change one's mind
I promised to go, but I changed my mind. I won't go.
Your punishment will be less heavy if you regret your crime.
to dare (to)
They didn't dare to contradict me.
You should date to be different.
to find out (about)
We learned about your trip last night.
I was the last one to find out what was going on.
to make and effort (to), to apply oneself (to)
In our company, we push ourselves to improve.
The team applies itself to offer the best service.
to cross the line, to overextend, exceed one's limits
The government exceeded its powers with the safety measures.
to complain
You guys are always complaining about bad weather.
I called to complain about bad service.
to rebel (against)
The oppressed rebel sooner or later.
to commit suicide
Poet Alfonsina Storni committed suicide in the ocean.

B. Otros son pronominales solamente cuando no son transitivos (no tienen objeto directo). A veces ambos significan casi lo mismo, pero en otros casos el significado es bastante diferente. Por ejemplo:

B. Other verbs are pronominal only when they're not transitive (have no direct object). Sometimes both forms mean almost the same, but in other cases their meanings are quite different. For example:

C. En algunos verbos, el pronominal indica un carácter definitivo, total o enfático de la acción. Por ejemplo:

C. In some verbs, the pronominal points to a definitive, total or emphatic aspect of the action. For example:

Un cuarto grupo de verbos pronominales, el más numeroso, son los que indican un cambio de estado, que puede ser mental o físico, general o específico, súbito o gradual.

A. Para cambios generales, se emplean comúnmente los siguientes:

A fourth group of pronominal verbs, the largest one, consists of those used to indicate a change of state, often conveyed in English with the verbs to become or to get.

B. The following are common ways to express the idea of becoming:

to become, convert into + noun
signals objective, lasting transformation
Problems can become opportunities.
Japan became an industrial power.
Life became (like) a game for me.
If she trains, she's going to become a great athlete.
to become + adjective, noun or adverb ("make oneself")
signals gradual transformation, often requiring effort or time
(common with profession, wealth, life stages and time)
Do you want to become a lawyer? I'm becoming an artist.
He became rich after getting old.
Let's go, it's getting late.
to become/get + adjective (to "be put in[to]" a state)
signals temporary, often sudden, changes
(most common with emotional or physical states)
Did they get pale with fright or turned red with anger?
Upon finding out, I first got sad and then furious.
The conversation got more interesting later.
to become/get + adjectives or nouns (to "turn into" a state)
signals relatively lasting changes
Our friendship got deeper in time.
Don Quijote went mad with so much reading.
The meeting became a party thanks to your jokes.
to become + adjective (to fall into and remain in a state)
for lasting changes such as going blind, deaf, mute...
Betthoven went deaf towards the end of his life.
to become, be transformed into
Problems can be transformed into opportunities.
Japan transformed itself into an industrial power.

B. Numerosos verbos pronominales indican cambios de estado o procesos específicos. Estos son algunos ejemplos:

B. Many pronominal verbs are used to indicate specific processes or changes of state. Here are some examples: