Can you clarify/explain reflexive verbs vs base forms? Ex: yo duermo vs me duermo. I think it's basically I sleep vs I go to sleep, maybe? But for other reflexive verbs especially I don't understand the difference
It's a little difficult because dormirse is one of the weird reflexives
In general, the reflexive ending -se to an infinitive just means that the action can be done to oneself; the subject and object are the same
As an example: lavar "to wash" can be done with laundry, the floor, pets, children... etc. but then you have lavarse which is "to wash oneself", as in lavarse las manos "to wash one's own hands"
[lit. "I wash myself the hands"; body parts rarely have possessive adjectives like "my" if it's obvious whose body parts they are, similar to me duele la garganta "my throat hurts" or literally "the throat hurts me"]
Many verbs can be reflexive this way, like hablarse "to talk to oneself"... or they can be reciprocal which just means that two or more subjects do something to one another like conocerse "to meet one another" or "to get to know one another"
Sometimes verbs can be either plain reflexive or reciprocal depending on context; casarse can be "to get married" as in one person, or casarse as "for two people to get married to each other"
With other reflexives you sometimes stumble across weird ones. You can usually tell something is up when it doesn't make sense in the traditional reflexive sense - where "oneself" doesn't make sense
In your case, dormir is "to sleep" and dormirse is "to fall asleep" or "to go to sleep"
It gets a little more confusing than this with reflexives. I'll try to be comprehensive and clear, but just know that reflexives opens up to a whole lot of grammatical concepts that are weird and confusing and VERY advanced - I'm talking advanced in a way that native speakers don't often know how to explain, it's just the way things are and what sounds right
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The reflexive here is a special kind of reflexive where it adds a little something to it; sometimes the difference seems minimal to non-native speakers [like comerse with food is MUCH more common than regular comer; like me como la pizza is "I eat the pizza" and is much more common]
Other times you get an entirely new expression... like acordar is "to come to an agreement" while acordarse is "to remember"
And sometimes the difference is very subtle but significant like dormirse, or something like olvidarse "to forget" being a little more common than regular olvidar
The exact reasoning depends on the actual verb, sometimes it's a more passive expression (like romperse is "to break down" where it's implied "on one's own" rather than actually breaking something which feels purposeful)
And other times it's like dormirse where the meaning seems to be subtly different. When I explain it to people I try to tell them to think of verbs that change meaning depending on prepositions or additional words... like caer is "to fall", but caerse can either be "to fall down" or it can be "to fall out" as in teeth or hair etc.
A few common ones to keep in mind:
ir = to go
irse = to go away
dormir = to sleep
dormirse = to fall asleep, to go to sleep [can also be "to go numb" the same way you might say "my leg fell asleep"]
morir = to die
morirse = to pass away (suddenly or it impacts you emotionally)
acabar = to finish
acabarse = to run out, to be depleted
romper = to break [active]
romperse = to break [passive], to break down, to break on its own
encontrar = to find
encontrarse = to feel [like ¿te encuentras bien? is "are you (feeling) okay?"]
creer = to believe
creerse = to believe (usually without evidence)
parecer = to seem
parecerse (a) = to look like, to resemble
acordar = to come to an agreement
acordarse (de) = to remember
fijar = to affix, to put in place
fijarse = to stare at, to look at
imaginar = to imagine (as in to use one's imagination or to think)
imaginarse = to imagine, to put oneself in a situation
preguntar = to ask
preguntarse = to wonder, to consider, to contemplate
olvidar = to forget [feels active]
olivdarse (de) = to forget, to slip one's mind [feels passive]
pasar = to pass / to spend
pasarse = to overindulge / to be out of line / to exceed, to outdo
caer = to fall
caerse = to fall down, to fall out
concentrar = to gather / to pool, to pool together, to accumulate
concentrarse = to concentrate, to focus, to pay attention
dar = to give
darse cuenta = to realize, to come to an understanding
quedar = to remain, to be left
quedarse = to stay behind
[as in quedarse en casa "to stay home"]
hundir = to drive into, to plunge, to sink
hundirse = to sink down, to sink (boats)
ahogar = to smother / to stifle / to overwhelm
ahogarse = to drown, to suffocate
despedir = to expel, to emit / to get rid of / to fire someone
despedirse (de alguien) = to say goodbye, to say one's goodbyes
You are also going to want to be aware what's called los verbos de cambio or "verbs of change". These are verbs that mean "to become", and they're reflexive and used in different situations:
convertirse en = to become, to be converted to
transformarse en = to transform into
ponerse = to become (emotions)
[as in ponerse triste "to get sad", ponerse enojado/a "to get angry", there's ponerse rojo/a which could be "to blush" or "to get red"... these are understood as very temporary and usually emotions]
volverse = to become, to turn (drastic)
[most common is volverse loco/a "to go crazy" or "to go mad"; if volverse is being used as "to become" it's usually very drastic and unexpected]
quedarse = to become, to be struck + physical condition
[as in quedarse de piedra "to be stunned" which is literally "turned to stone", or quedarse mudo/a "to be struck silent/dumb/mute", or quedarse ciego/a "to be blinded", quedarse sordo/a "to be struck deaf", or quedarse paralizado/a "to be paralyzed"... also used as quedarse embarazada sometimes as "to get knocked up" or "to become pregnant", and there's an expression quedarse de brazos cruzados which is understood as "to stand around doing nothing" but literally "to stay behind/be left with arms crossed"]
hacerse = to become (with effort)
[most understood as "to make oneself" - this is used for something you achieve with personal effort often times; hacerse rico/a "to get rich", hacerse famoso/a "to become famous"... it's also often used for dietary restrictions or religious conversions; hacerse vegetariano/a "to become a vegetarian" or hacerse budista "to become Buddhist" as an example; it's also sometimes used for vocations or something you study and work at for a long time or with a vow like hacerse monja "to become a nun"... while not 100% the most common expression it expresses a devotion and work ethic rather than just expressions that use ser as "to be/become" with professions]
Be especially wary of ponerse because it honestly has so many additional meanings: ponerse la ropa is "to put on clothes", ponerse el sol is "for the sun to set", ponerse could be "to become", or an expression like ponerse las pilas is "to get your act together" or "to get yourself in gear" but literally it's "to put one's batteries in"
There are also some verbs that are just more commonly reflexive for your purposes... like concentrarse, or a verb like graduarse "to graduate" where simple graduar is "to calibrate", a couple others are jubilarse "to retire" or something like desahogarse which is "to vent" [lit. "to un-drown oneself"; in the sense of "get off one's chest" to make them feel better]
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Addendum: I do have to mention that reflexive endings get used for many things so it is sometimes weirder and more complicated and no one explains why; the umbrella term is "pronomial" which includes the reflexives, but it just means any time you see a reflexive ending but it might not fit the typical "to onself" definition
And, the weirdest one of all is se which you might think is reflexive but it also might not be
There are going to be times you see a se that isn't reflexive; sometimes it's passive, sometimes it's impersonal, sometimes it's taking the place of le or les in a sentence with indirect and direct objects
Really, se is the weirdest one and I only mention it because you're going to be confused by se many times; it's just versatile
In general, a se refers to a 3rd person something and it gets used in descriptions of 3rd person unspecified, or to mean "itself" or "oneself" in some cases. There's almost always a 3rd person-ness to se where something is happening but it might not be a "thing" so much as it happening "on its own", if that makes sense
Todos nós temos dificuldades na vida. A verdade é que a vida é uma caixinha de surpresas, sempre tendo um pouco de esperança aqui, um pouco de afeição ali, todos nós buscamos por algo assim. Principalmente, a auto-aceitação. É normal passar por fases assim, onde a nossa mente nós dita o que fazer e está decidido, ainda mais na quarentena, onde estamos sendo vítimas de um mal global e que não há nada que possamos fazer. Sabe aquele desânimo? Não deixe te afetar, seja você mesmo, faça algo que goste, trabalhe na sua produtividade de forma com que isso ajude sua alma, seu coração e sua mente e que isso possa ser suficiente para você. Ser produtivo não é fazer mil coisas ao mesmo tempo, as vezes só é levantar da cama para beber água, ou fazer uma comida boa e voltar a assistir série. Não se cobre, esteja sempre priorizando a sua saúde mental a cima de tudo, esse é o segredo!
Dezembro é um mês de muita reflexão de tudo que você fez durante o ano e as coisas que você não conseguiu fazer, mas também um mês de planejamento pra o próximo ano das coisas que você pretende conquistar!
Você acha que o amor machuca. Mas não é isso. Solidão sim, rejeição sim, perder alguém sim, traição sim, inveja sim. Você acabou confundindo isso tudo com amor, quando na realidade, o amor é a única coisa no mundo capaz de curar nossas feridas sentimentais e nos fazer se sentir bem novamente. Amor é a única coisa no mundo que não machuca… A única coisa no mundo que quero ver é você bem com alguém que de fato te mereça!
Palavras como tapas. Enfiadas na sua garganta igual a uma faca Ao acreditar é o mesmo que se matar Aos poucos consumindo seu amor, Ofuscado o seu brilho interior. Não olhe por trás das cortinas, Elas lhe mostram a verdade. A verdade que foi cuspida por sua boca, Ao dizer uma coisa e agir de outra. Fotos, imagens, vídeos, realidade. Certas palavras não passam de uma leve maquiagem. Todos acreditam que está tudo perfeito Até olharem as coisas por dentro. Ninguém interfere, Todos se enlouquecem. A máscara cai e a verdade a tona vai. Tarde demais, as cortinas foram abertas. Assim como seu peito, com a faca dentro. A destruição já foi feita Só estamos fazendo cena. Confiança ou mentira? Ambas traíras. Ao acreditar, é o mesmo que se matar. Aos poucos consumindo seu amor, Ofuscando o seu brilho interior.
Hola, I wanted to ask for a clarification on something. I think I confused myself with reflexive verbs and gustar and verbs like it. Reflexive verbs use the "me/te/se/nos/os/se", but gustar uses "me/te/le..." etc. Because a reflexive verb is usually an action being done to yourself, we use se. But why don't we use se for gustar? Or le/les for reflexive verbs? I'm a little lost trying to understand why they're different.
What you're asking is the difference between a reflexive and an indirect object; and I'm going to start with a reflexive because I find them easier to understand
A reflexive is when the subject and object are the same - something one does to themselves (or in reciprocal/plural, something multiple people do to each other)
The basic example that I always like to use is lavar "to wash" - you can lavar la ropa "wash clothes", and lavar a alguien "to wash someone", and in this case the "clothes" and "someone" are considered direct objects [things that receive the action of the verb, as in, the clothes are what is getting washed etc]
A reflexive would be lavarse "to wash oneself"
You have lavarse las manos "to wash one's hands", literally "to wash oneself the hands" - the idea being that it is yourself, the hands are just part of you and obviously part of you (this is a thing that happens with many body parts where ownership is considered implied) - so you are the one washing and the one being washed. That's reflexive. And what is being washed is "the hands", which are the direct object here
Please note - there are other ways reflexives are used, and specifically times se shows up that aren't truly reflexive, and I don't want to confuse you or bog you down with more information than you need but just be aware there's the basic true "reflexive", and then also there are times when se shows up for seemingly no reason and it's just grammatical quirks of Spanish
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An indirect object (also called dative in linguistics and languages with case systems, like German, Latin, Russian etc) is to mark who is the intended recipient of an action, who is benefiting, who something is done for
"to whom or for whom something is done"... that's why it's indirect
[Note: "who" is often a subject, "whom" is an object; if you take German you'll see this more but it's one of the carry-overs from German just in English as far as "whom" taking an extra letter]
You do something to something (directly), but it's for someone else... so that's why it's indirect
A common example I use is mandar la carta "to send a letter", the one "sending" is the subject, the "letter" is the object... but who is it going to?
le mando la carta "I am sending the letter to him/her"... where the "him/her" is receiving the action of sending the letter but not being acted upon directly... an indirect object
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Here's where we get into the double-edged sword of gustar
On the one hand, super common absolutely everywhere, needs to be taught
On the other hand, it is often taught as "to like" which is basically true but becomes confusing for people later on when they come across the indirect objects. Teachers do their best to mitigate it but it's kinda unavoidable
gustar is NOT "to like" when used with indirect objects; it is "to be pleasant to" or "to be pleasing to"
When you say me gusta el libro "I like the book" what you're actually saying is "the book is pleasing to me"; and me gustan los libros "I like the books" is "the books are pleasing to me"
This is why gustar is showing up in 3rd person - they're the true "subject" and that's why gustar is often conjugated like this
This also extends to gustar-like verbs like fascinar, apetecer, interesar, importar, preocupar, and so on...
As in me sorprende is "it surprises me", literally "it evokes surprise in me"
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To be clear here - a reflexive is when the subject and object are the same
Direct object and indirect object phrases are not phrased like that. Direct objects have one subject acting on something [mandar la carta for example], and indirect objects mention who benefits from something being acted upon [mandar(le) la carta (a alguien)]
A reflexive would have you doing the action and being the recipient, so in theory you could say me mando una carta "I send myself a letter"
Many verbs can be reflexive if they apply to the subject; if they apply to someone else, they're often direct or indirect objects
While not super common, me gusto can be used as "I like myself"
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Also just to be clear about the object pronouns:
Direct objects: me, te, lo/la, los/las, nos, os
Indirect objects: me, te, le, les, nos, os
Reflexives: me, te, se, nos, os
For yo, tú, nosotros/nosotras, and vosotros/vosotras the objects are the exact same
Which means that ~in general but not always~ you don't have to worry too much about whether a sentence is technically direct or indirect
The big issue is 3rd person (+ usted/ustedes which conjugate like 3rd person) - whether it's going to be lo or le or se
In general though it will depend on the context of the sentence. As an example alegrar "to make someone happy" uses indirect objects, while alegrarse is "to become happy"
Whether you're saying le alegra "it makes them happy" or se alegra "he/she is happy/they are glad"
I was debating how far in depth I should go when I explain this because there are a lot of separate concepts that go into a full understanding of this, but I'll do my best to give an overview at the very least. And if there are any specific concepts you'd like me to address further, let me know - I'll include some links to other posts I've done that discuss more of these concepts
First: The umbrella term for this is "pronomial verbs", which are verbs or expressions that use the reflexive pronouns.
Second: Not all pronomials are true reflexives; meaning there are times when you'll see reflexive object pronouns used but it won't specifically mean that it's a reflexive verb
Third: All reflexives must have agreement [concordancia]; for example if you have a sentence with a yo subject, it requires the object pronoun me + a yo conjugation, te requires tú conjugation and so on
For example: me levanto, te levantas, se levanta, se levantan, nos levantamos
In that case, what do I mean by a "true reflexive"?
The definition of "reflexive" in linguistic settings is when the subject and the object are the same. In a sentence like lavo el piso "I wash the floor", the "I" is the subject, but the "floor" is the object. In the sentence me lavo it's "I wash myself"; the subject and object are the same.
Your first run-in with the reflexives is llamarse because it's used in introductions. It's understood as "my name is" but me llamo is literally "I call myself"; and as a question ¿Cómo te llamas? is "What's your name?" or literally "How do you call yourself?"
If you can understand llamarse that will make things easier
Some quick grammatical terms in case it's necessary:
Subject = The doer; the person or thing who is acting
Object = The recipient; the person or thing who receives the action, or, in other words - the person or thing that is acted upon
Direct object / Accusative = The person or thing that is acted upon e.g. "I write the letter", and "the letter" is the direct object
Indirect object / Dative = The person or thing that receives the result of the action; to whom or for whom something is done e.g. "I'm writing you a letter", and "the letter" is the direct object, but the "you" is the indirect object as "you" is the intended recipient
Pronomial = Something that uses the reflexive object pronouns
Reflexive = When the subject and object are the same
Reciprocal reflexive = When multiple subjects do things to each other e.g. "to hug one another", or "to get married (to one another)", or "to fall in love (with one another)"
Infinitive = The dictionary form of a verb, "to (do something)"... for reflexives, the infinitive form ends in -se; as an example levantar is "to raise" or "to lift", while levantarse is "to stand up" or "to get up"
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The Reflexive Object Prononous
me -> yo
te -> tú
se -> él, ella, usted [singular]
se -> ellos, ellas, ustedes [plural]
nos -> nosotros / nosotras
os -> vosotros / vosotras
All of 3rd person, singular and plural, uses se. You can only really tell if it's singular or plural based on the verb conjugation:
Se sentó. = He/She/You [usted] sat down.
Se sentaron. = They / You all [ustedes] sat down.
As stated above, "reflexive" means that an action is "reflected" - the person doing it is the one who also receives it. Thing of "talking to yourself" in the mirror, or your "reflection", and that's the general idea
Sometimes reflexive expressions in English are ones where you see a -self added... "myself", "yourself", "himself", "herself", "themselves", "ourselves" etc.
This isn't always the case, but it does happen
*Side Note: This is unrelated to reflexives specifically, but it is worth pointing out that body parts/organs/things associated with the body are more likely to have the regular articles [el, la, los, las or un, una, unos, unas] rather than possessives
In something like me lavo la cara it's "I wash myself the face" literally but it translates as "I wash my face". Because it's something like "I wash MYSELF", the implication is that it's your own body part already so no need to specify. Same thing like se ha roto la pierna "he/she broke their leg", or me afeito la barbilla "I shave my chin". Most body parts are inherently "attached" to a person so it's not usually necessary to specify ownership unless it's in doubt
A NSFW example I like to use because I think it helps siéntate en mi cara is "sit on my face" as a command. It makes sense to include a possessive adjective mi here because if you said siéntate en la cara it would read as "go sit on your (own) face"
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In addition to the basic reflexives outlined above, you also have what is known as "reciprocal" reflexives. It's the same as reflexive just with two or more subjects
As an example: me viste "you saw me" vs. nos vimos "we saw each other"
Me conoce. = He/She knows me. [direct object]
Nos conocemos. = We know each other. / We are meeting each other.
Me enamoré de él. = I fell in love with him.
Nos enamoramos. = We fell in love.
Me están mirando. = They are watching me. [direct object]
Nos estamos mirando. = We are watching each other.
These are sometimes a bit confusing in context with something like se casaron "they got married" because it could be that two separate subjects [ellos/ellas] got married to two separate people... OR you could have it contextually mean "they got married (to each other)"
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After that you get into advanced grammar territory and I warn you if you're not familiar with Spanish enough, this might be over your head
There are times in Spanish when reflexive expressions are seemingly used but they don't make sense in a reflexive sense
This is why the term is "pronomial" because there are some expressions that can use reflexives without being a true "reflexive"
The big two that are going to show up and trip you up are expressions that use se. I won't go into them too much, but they're either impersonal se constructions or passive se constructions. Essentially...
Se escribe con A. = It's spelled with an A. [impersonal or passive]
Eso no se hace. = That isn't done. [passive]
Se suele decir... = They often say... [impersonal]
Se suele decir... = It is often said... [passive]
Se comieron las galletas. = The cookies got eaten. [passive]
Se habla español. = They speak Spanish. [impersonal]
Se habla español. = Spanish is spoken. [passive]
Again, not spending much time on this but three things.
These expressions only use se and can only show up in 3rd person because of it; this is why it throws people off because se is distinctly a reflexive pronoun but the constructions aren't "reflexive"
Passive expressions with se are used when something is done; an object is verbed by Subject, like se comieron las galletas "the cookies got eaten" or se comió el postre "dessert was eaten"
Impersonal expressions are when things are done by an indefinite subject. In English we tend to say "they", or "one", or "you" in context - like ¿cómo se hace una tarta de manzana? "how do you make an apple pie?"
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Past this you get into the very confusing world of "superfluous dative" or "ethical dative"
Again, "dative" refers to the indirect object - "to whom or for whom", but it generally means "showing great interest or emphasis with regards to the object"
These are the expressions that typically change meaning, and in English we tend to use prepositional expressions with them to make them understood as being distinct from the root verb
Common example: ir is "to go", irse is "to go away" or "to leave"
Superfluous dative / Ethical dative often indicates a change in status or there's something remarkable about it that impacts the person in some way
Other examples are like dormir "to sleep" vs. dormirse "to fall asleep"
And of course, with food comer is "to eat", but many native speakers use comerse with food to imply that they like it or are eating it with some emphasis on eating the food having an emotional response rather than just mechanically eating something
The ethical dative is often used with se + indirect object + verb, to describe especially passive expressions that affect the person greatly in some way
romper = to break
Rompí el coche/carro/auto. = I broke the car. [purposeful]
Se rompió el coche/carro/auto. = The car broke down. [passive]
Se me rompió el coche/carro/auto. = The car up and died on me. [passive + this affects "me" greatly"]
caer = to fall
Caí. = I fell.
Se cayó. = It fell (on its own).
Se me cayó un diente. = One of my teeth fell out. / I lost a tooth.
[lit. "the tooth fell itself (out of) me"]
Another common one you see is olvidarse "to forget" vs. olvidársele "to slip one's mind"
me olvidé "I forgot" in an accidental way; vs. se me olvidó "it slipped my mind" where it literally reads as "(something) forgot itself to me"
It could be se me olvidó el libro "I forgot my book" for singular, or se me olvidaron las llaves "I forgot my keys" for plural
In this way, very passive things can happen to people as if they weren't involved.... se me acabó el tiempo "I ran out of time" or "the clock ran out on me" or even se me acabó la harina "I ran out of flour"; and things like se me cayó todo el pelo "all my hair fell out (on its own)"
These are unique and not usually taught, and very passive
Can you explain reflexive verbs in Spanish? They're so confusing
The first thing that's confusing is that a good portion of "reflexives" aren't actually "reflexive" so let me start at the beginning and hopefully it will clear up some things or at least help you recognize some of the things you're seeing
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First, what's important to note is that there's an overall umbrella term called "pronomial" or "pronomial verbs/expressions"
What this means is that they're expressions that use reflexive pronouns, and above all they're expressions that use se in 3rd person
True reflexives (and reciprocal reflexives) are quite easy to understand in general
They function based on the principle that the subject and object are the same - that is, "someone does something to themselves"
Many verbs can be regular, but take on reflexive qualities if the object is themselves
In other words: lavar el piso "to wash the floor" or lavar al perro "to wash the dog"... one person [the subject] is doing the washing, but the piso or perro are the ones receiving the action [the object]
This means if someone washes themselves it becomes reflexive lavarse
...What might be a touch confusing is that there are certain verbs that use body parts, and body parts are technically "us", so you'll see lavarse las manos "to wash one's hands" which is literally "to wash oneself the hands"
It could be me lavo los pies "I wash my feet" or me lavo la cara "I wash my face"; as long as the body parts are our own, there's no need to include a possessive adjective like "my"... it's just implied
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Reciprocal reflexives are also easier to understand in general because they function along the same lines, except it's plural
Reciprocal means "two or more people doing something to each other"
A simple one is abrazar "to hug", where someone can hug someone else... but if that hug is returned it's se abrazan "they're hugging"
Some verbs can be singular reflexive or plural depending on context, or they can be read differently depending on the context:
Se casó. = He/She got married.
Se casaron. = They got married.
With se casaron plural, you could be saying two separate people got married... or it could be reciprocal and be "they got married (to each other)"
In some cases, there's some other words added to make it clear like amarse (los) unos a (los) otros "to love one another", or se pelean entre sí "they fight amongst themselves"
*Note: This sí is not "yes", it's an object marker for 3rd person - directly related to se as 3rd person; you're probably going to see this mostly with sí mismo/a being "himself/herself" or "itself", or you'll see en sí as "in and of itself"
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se is an interesting grammatical particle because it usually implies 3rd person, and that can be "he" or "she", but very often in grammar it's an indeterminate subject
That's how you end up with expressions that are either impersonal or passive that use se
These are technically different from reflexives in that they only apply to 3rd person, and they read much differently
For the sake of understanding terminology:
passive - linguistically refers to the object being the focus of the sentence. In active voice, a subject verbs an object. In passive voice, the object is verbed by the subject. Passive voice is either accomplished with ser + past participle + por (alguien) such as El Quijote fue escrito por Cervantes which is "Don Quixote was written by Cervantes". The other way is by using se expressions; it will read as "it is done" or "they are done" etc.
impersonal - linguistically this refers to an ambiguous or undetermined subject. In translation it is often translated as "we" or "they" or "you"; not always a real person, but things like "how do you make a cake" which could be read as "how does one make a cake". Impersonal expressions are often used with se, but you can also use actual pronouns like a vague 3rd person plural or use certain subjects that are vague like alguien, nadie, la gente etc.
The most common example is se habla español and the translation might be different depending on how you intend it.
In high school my Spanish class had a sign that said se habla español aquí which I took to mean "we speak Spanish here" [impersonal], but it could also be "Spanish is spoken here" [passive]
The key difference between them is that passive can be singular or plural, but impersonal is only ever singular
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I’m going to include my tag on reflexives which has more information in general about the pronomials and everything else
Additionally:
voz pasiva
dativo ético
The dativo ético itself is a cause for a LOT of weirdness involving reflexives, so it’s a broad but important topic for more intermediate-advanced people
