It's funny how you can look at phrase x number of times and then, all of a sudden, something seems out of place. - "No pude acercarme lo suficiente." vs. "No pude acercarme suficiente." What does the "lo" add to this phrase?

Is it an unspoken "it", as in I could not get enough (of it)? It seems that these sorts of things are more often expressed in Spanish whereas they are sometimes left unspoken in English. I, anyway, would probably be likely to not include the it in English.

It seems like "I could not get enough" as the translation is not complete. It looks like it needs the "of it". Thanks Steven and Dan. Keep coming with those questions and answers that make me think rather than just memorizing them. Don't you two ever leave the forum.

I should have put the whole phrase with the translation. Here they are: - Había demasiada gente. No pude acercarme lo suficiente. - There were too many people. I couldn't get close enough. "Poder" is also one of those peculiar verbs that changes meaning in the preterit. If I were just given the English above, I would have translated this as: - No podía acercarme suficiente.

I was reviewing Past times in Premium Plus and I came across this sentence. I thought "dar" is to give. Now "dar" looks like to walk. I thought to walk is "caminar" ¿Quieres dar una vuelta conmigo? Do you want to walk around with me? I just memorized it.

Languages have set phrases. This is probably one example of a set phrase: dar una vuelta. I expect "dar una vuelta" means "to walk around". If you think about it, you can probably think of similar phrase where the English words by themselves do not make sense in the context of the sentence, e.g."How come you won't come over" - how come? That is a set phrase in English. So, 'dar' does mean "to give" and "caminar" means to walk. We also have to learn these colloquialisms.

Hola a todos, Regarding "dar", from "Las adventuras de Victor en España". " y al lado de la televisión hay una puerta que da al balcon." Traducción : and to the side of the television there's a door that leads to the balcony. One of many sites that address idiomatic usages of dar. http://www.123teachme.com/learn_spanish/idioms_with_dar Saludos, Ricardo

- "No pude acercarme lo suficiente." vs. "No pude acercarme suficiente."

I was about to post this question (again) and saw here that I had already asked it. The thread veered off to answer a different question. Any ideas?

Other examples:
- ¡Es suficiente!
- Compraría un coche si tuviera suficiente dinero.

Hi guys,

I understand "lo" in the sentence as our neutral definite article. It's used before adjectives (like "suficiente") adverbs and phrases and it transforms them into nouns... I am sure you could use "No pude acercame suficiente" and you would make yourself understood, but it sounds a little bit different to my ears hehe like if something is missing :P
 

Thanks, Marie.

Thanks todos,
yo aprienda mucho(I was trying to say I learnt a lot)
Please feel free to correct my sentence

Hola Chic,

Yo "aprendí" mucho. "Aprendí " is the first person preterit past tense, which is needed in your sentence, "aprenda" is both a command in the Ud form, as well as the  the present subjunctive of aprender. Hope that helps.

Saludos,

Ricardo

Hola Chic,

I mistakenly read  your use of"aprienda" as "aprenda". I don't think " aprienda " exists in Spanish.

Saludos,

Ricardo