# Si yo fuera tú…



## mooj96

Can someone explain why this isn't "Si yo te fuera…"? Would this apply to other tenses with ser? "Yo soy tú…"


----------



## colombo-aussie

Hola,

Your question is a bit confusing so I don't understant what exactly your question is. The only thing I can say to you now, is that the equivalent in English of "Si you fuera tú" is *"If I were you"*


----------



## sal62

My try, follow the colors
 si yo fuera: If I were a dog, I could bark
Si yo te fuera a olvidar, si yo fuera a olvidarte  If I have been going to forget you
fuera means to verbs in spanish
1) First person singular subjunctive simple past: fuera o fuese verb to be (ser)
2) First person singular subjunctive simple past: fuera o fuese verb to go (ir)

Yo soy_* tú*_= I am you
Yo soy tu= I am your...
Si yo fuera tú= if I were you

 Hope it help


----------



## mooj96

colombo-aussie said:


> Hola,
> 
> Your question is a bit confusing so I don't understant what exactly your question is. The only thing I can say to you now, is that the equivalent in English of "Si you fuera tú" is *"If I were you"*



I know that, but I'm just very confused by the grammar of the sentence. Just as "I'll help you" is "Te ayudaré," I thought "If I were you" would be "Si yo te fuera," not "Si yo fuera tú."


----------



## patdm99

If I were You, is a predicate nominative, which means both subject (I) and object (You) are in the nominative case. Basically you are equating "I" and "You". They are the same grammatically.

In spanish it is the same, "Si yo fuera tu`". "tu` " is in the nominative case just like "yo". In spanish "te" represents the accusative and dative cases of English. 

please correct me if Im wrong but:
"Si yo te fuera" could make sense but it needs more like "Si yo te fuera ver en un ano, yo estaria feliz"


----------



## patdm99

also

in "I'll help you" "you" is in the Dative case, and not in the nominative


----------



## sal62

I'll help you=yo te ayudaré= yo ayudaré a ti (this way is unnecesary) nevertheless, you can say I´ll help your mother= yo ayudaré a tu madre
"si yo te fuera" and "si yo fuera tú" are different verbs, besides, this is the way we can identify them.


----------



## blasita

colombo-aussie said:


> Your question is a bit confusing so I don't understant what exactly your question is.
> 
> The only thing I can say to you now, is that the equivalent in English of "Si you fuera tú" is *"If I were you"*



Your question is not clear to me either, Mooj.

_Yo soy tú_ is not _normally_ used (as in English: _I am you_) but e.g. _yo que tú/si yo fuera tú_ (_if I were you_).

And for example: _si fuera a decirte/si te fuera a decir ..._ (=_si te dijera ....; if I were to tell you/if I told you ..._).

But I think that some context is needed.

Saludos.


----------



## aztlaniano

patdm99 said:


> If I were You, is a predicate nominative, which means both subject (I) and object (You) are in the nominative case. Basically you are equating "I" and "You". They are the same grammatically.
> 
> In Spanish it is the same, "Si yo fuera tú". "tú " is in the nominative case just like "yo". In Spanish "te" represents the accusative and dative cases of English.



In other words, use "te" when it is an object, direct or indirect. 
(Yo) te pego. I hit you. "Te" is the direct object.
(Yo) te regalo un reloj. I give you a watch. "Te" is the indirect object.
"Ser", like "to be",  is not a transitive verb. It has no object although it does, when conjugated, have a subject.


----------



## James2000

I think the mooj96 is comparing the English with the Spanish and finding differences, and I think this is just one of those cases where differences exist.  This is better illustrated with a person other than the second in English:

For instance, the English:

If I were him, I would buy a new car.

which uses the object pronoun (him), although I'm sure there's a grammarian out there who would insist on using 'he' where I've used 'him'.

Apparently, as others have explained, Spanish is far more insistent on using subject pronouns only with 'ser' than English is with 'to be'.  For instance, in English it's common to say: _It is me_ even if my school English teacher insisted that we should say _'It is I'_.


----------



## Istriano

In Spanish, I think you'd say: _Yo que tú / Yo de ti._..(compare with _Si io fossi in te _in Italian,_ Se eu fosse a ti _in Continental Portuguese, _Se eu fosse você_ in Brazilian Portuguese).
But tú is the nominative case in _Si yo fuera tú_, so it is correct too.

if you invert the pronouns, you can see the confusion...it's due to differences between the standard formal/written and the nonstandard/colloquial usage in English:

Si *tú *fueras *yo *= If *you *were *I* (standard) ~ If you were me (nonstandard/colloquial).
both *tú *and *yo *are pronouns in the nominative case (_if you were who?;_ and not _if you were whom?_)
same for *you *and* I*


----------



## mooj96

Thanks everyone! I think I understand this concept now. I just wanted the odd grammar explained to me. Now, what is this "si yo que tú" phrase some mentioned? Is it a colloquial way of saying "si yo fuera tú?"


----------



## sal62

yes, but,  "si yo que tú" I´ve never heard it, instead,"yo que tu" (myself, being in yourself , your situation, problem,expectations etc.)= if I were you.
Here, we use "yo que vos" o "yo en tu lugar".
Saludos.


----------



## mooj96

sal62 said:


> yes, but,  "si yo que tú" I´ve never heard it, instead,"yo que tu" (myself, being in yourself , your situation, problem,expectations etc.)= if I were you.
> Here, we use "yo que vos" o "yo en tu lugar".
> Saludos.



Oh, so the si is sort of understood?


----------



## alanla

]I think I know what you are getting at. I also think I understand why no one can translate that for you. I had to think about it several times and ran into  the same problem you did. This is what I think:
*If I were you… *= *Si yo estuviera en tu lugar….*
I do not believe it can be translated  literally.  
No creo que se pueda tradicirlo, porque en efecto se exprime de otra manera totalment distinca en español.
Qué les parece a los native? Es algo así, que sepa yo:

If I were you, I would not translate that literally.
Si estuviera en tu lugar, no lo traducería/traduciera eso al pie de la letra. 

*Alan*


----------



## Lurrezko

En ese caso no usarías *ser*, sino *estar*: uno no _es_ en un lugar, sino que *está*.

_Si yo estuviera en tu lugar, no lo traduciría al pie de la letra._

Por lo demás, en mi uso la construcción habitual es _yo que tú/yo de ti,_ como se dice más arriba

Saludos


----------



## alanla

Lurrezko said:


> En ese caso no usarías *ser*, sino *estar*: uno no _es_ en un lugar, sino que *está*.
> 
> _Si yo estuviera en tu lugar, no lo traduciría al pie de la letra._
> 
> Por lo demás, en mi uso la construcción habitual es _yo que tú/yo de ti,_ como se dice más arriba
> 
> *Lurrezko:* You're right right!! I got so involved in the translation of the first part that I forgot all about the whole sentence change that would then involve the verb *estar*, not *ser*!
> He perdido el hilo, por decirlo así y se me olvidó. Mil gracias, amigo. Vuelvo a corregirlo.
> *Alan
> *
> 
> 
> Saludos


----------



## Lurrezko

De nada, un placer.

Saludos


----------



## blasita

mooj96 said:


> Thanks everyone! I think I understand this concept now. I just wanted the odd grammar explained to me. Now, what is this "si yo que tú" phrase some mentioned? Is it a colloquial way of saying "si yo fuera tú?"



I first mentioned 'yo que tú'; actually, nobody mentioned 'si yo que tú'. Sorry for not having helped more, but again, your original question was not clear at all.



alanla said:


> *If I were you… *= *Si (yo) estuviera en tu lugar…. +Si (yo) fuera tú*
> I do not believe it can be translated literally.  *Yes, it can. But I would not usually say this, but e.g. 'Yo en tu lugar/Yo que tú'. These ones sound more colloquial and natural to me.*



Un saludo.


----------



## SãoEnrique

sal62 said:


> My try, follow the colors
> si yo fuera: If I were a dog, I could bark
> Si yo te fuera a olvidar, si yo fuera a olvidarte If I have been going to forget you
> fuera means to verbs in spanish
> 1) First person singular subjunctive simple past: fuera o fuese verb to be (ser)
> 2) First person singular subjunctive simple past: fuera o fuese verb to go (ir)
> 
> Yo soy_* tú*_= I am you
> Yo soy tu= I am your...
> Si yo fuera tú= if I were you
> 
> Hope it help



Hola,

¿Podemos decir "Si yo fuera *ti*" en el lugar de "Si yo fuera *tú*"? Estoy un poco confundido con esto.


----------



## blasita

SãoEnrique said:


> ¿Podemos decir "Si yo fuera *ti*" en el lugar de "Si yo fuera *tú*"? Estoy un poco confundido con esto.



Hola:

No, no lo puedes decir; solamente: _si yo fuera tú/ella/él (etc.)_. Creo que otros foreros han explicado el porqué antes, pero si no lo tienes claro, preguntas, por favor.

Y voy a aprovechar para añadir ahora más información sobre lo que se ha comentado antes:


> _También se usa la conjunción __*que* en *estructuras contrastivas* del tipo *yo que tú...*; tú, al contrario que él...; o él, al revés que su hija...: «Yo que usted lo pensaría» (Lynch Dedos [Arg. 1977]); «Yo pienso, al contrario que mi admirado Manuel Hidalgo, que las guerras son muy peligrosas» (Mundo [Esp.] 12.5.99). *No debe usarse en su lugar la preposición **de, uso achacable en muchos casos al influjo de otras lenguas, como el catalán,* donde se emplea en estas construcciones la preposición: __«Yo de Leguina no dimitiría» (País [Esp.] 1.4.85); __«Porque Yeltsin, al contrario de Gorbachov, reniega del marxismo-leninismo»(Universal [Ven.] 21.4.93); debió decirse Yo que Leguina y Yeltsin, al contrario que Gorbachov._


----------



## Lurrezko

Ah, de modo que *yo de ti* es otro catalanismo. No gana uno para sustos, hija.


----------



## blasita

Lurrezko said:


> Ah, de modo que *yo de ti* es otro catalanismo. No gana uno para sustos, hija.



Sí, es verdad, no llevamos buena racha, no.

Creo (y digo creo) que no es solamente por influencia del catalán, sino también de otras lenguas (Istriano lo comentó también). A mí 'yo de ti' no me sonaba nada bien y decidí echar un ojo al *DPD* (se me pasó citar la fuente antes, perdón). Bueno, solo para que se sepa que la RAE lo considera incorrecto; por si le sirve a alguien.

Un saludo.


----------



## sal62

En mi opinión, "ti" no debe usarse por que es un pronombre dativo o sea que recibe algo, que es beneficiario de la acción la acción del verbo, cosa imposible en esta oración. Si tu confusión es por la siguiente oración: "Si yo te fuera a olvidar o si yo fuera a olvidarte" te cuento (a tí) que este "fuera" _*no*_ es el verbo "ser" es el verbo "ir" y si sacas a este verbo, cuya función en esta oración es colaborar en los asuntos temporales de la principal acción (olvidar) estamos listos para los siguiente: yo te olvido, o, de otra manera: es a tí, a quien olvido yo, siendo este último el ejemplo de como puedes (en esta oración) utilizar el pronombre dativo tí.


----------



## blasita

sal62 said:


> (a tí) [...] es a tí, a quien olvido yo, siendo este último el ejemplo de como puedes (en esta oración) utilizar el pronombre dativo tí.



Sal, si me permites un comentario: '*ti' no se acentúa.*


----------



## sal62

Cierto, *no se acentúa*​,


----------



## Juan Jacob Vilalta

SãoEnrique said:


> ¿Podemos decir "Si yo fuera *ti*" en el lugar de "Si yo fuera *tú*"? Estoy un poco confundido con esto.



No, de ninguna manera.


----------

