buy · Spanish (comprar) — Event-Structure Dictionary

Arguments

Buyer, Goods, Seller, Beneficiary, Price, shop · Spanish cloth · working claim, revisable

Voice[Buyer] + complement of the root (Goods, direct object) + a+NP or le, the selected Seller + para+NP Beneficiary + Price, where a line prints one (por on the transaction class, or a + a rate) + en+NP for the shop in the intransitive line

A purchase, on this reading, has a Buyer, the Goods, a Seller when a line fills one, a Beneficiary when a line fills one, a Price when a line fills one, and a shop when a line fills one. They are not six equal sisters of comprar. Voice adds the Buyer. The root’s complement is the Goods, a direct object. Spanish nouns have no case ending, so that object is not a morphological accusative. The selected indirect object, a+NP or the clitic le, is the Seller. para+NP is the Beneficiary, and the grammar does not call that phrase an indirect object. A Price is por when the line is the payment of the transaction class, or a plus a rate when the line is distributive. en adds the shop in the intransitive line that prints one. The drawing is working and revisable. It is not a settled analysis, and it is not a claim about telicity.

What is different from the English gloss. Cambridge prints buy with [+ two objects] in He bought his mother some flowers, and the same line offers He bought some flowers for his mother. The seller in the articles opened is from: I bought my camera from a friend of mine. Spanish does not put those two persons in one marker. The Nueva gramática assigns the selected indirect object of comprar to the seller, Le compré el auto. The Gramática básica prints that seller as Le compró al librero and the beneficiary as para, Lo compré para mi hermana. The same article prints Le compró flores para su mamá and marks the clitic as not the mother. On French acheter one à is the Seller or the Beneficiary, and Larousse recommends pour when the sentence does not choose. Spanish para is that unambiguous beneficiary. It is not the French à. On German kaufen the bare dative is the beneficiary, and on abkaufen that dative is the seller. Spanish keeps one lemma and splits the persons by the preposition. A numeral English for is unprinted in the Cambridge lines opened here. The Spanish price is a different preposition from para.

Places · who wears which marking

One printed line stacks the Seller, the Beneficiary, and the goods. The Gramática básica prints Le compró al librero (CI) una enciclopedia para su hijo. No sum is in that sentence. The price lines print a rate, or name por on the transaction class, and they do not print para of a person in the same clause. The shop line prints no goods.

Printed Seller and Beneficiary · different markers

✓ Le compró al librero (CI) una enciclopedia para su hijo Gramática básica · 20.2.2.3 · the (CI) is the entry’s

he bought an encyclopedia from the bookseller for his son

Printed rate beside the Seller clitic

✓ Por cada res que le compro a quinientos soles NGLE · 36.6n · Scorza, Tumba

for each head of cattle that I buy from him at five hundred soles

Places of Spanish buy: introducer, marking, status, English marking
Place	Introduced by (working)	Spanish marking	Status	English marking
Buyer	Spec,Voice	subject of comprar	structural subject · a passive of the goods has no overt buyer	subject of buy
Goods	complement of the root	direct object (el auto, una enciclopedia, flores, caramelos, huevos, las hectáreas)	structural direct object · se compran huevos promotes it · Spanish nouns have no case ending	object of buy · second object of Cambridge’s [+ two objects]
Seller	selected indirect object · a+NP or le · revisable	Le compré el auto · al librero, doubled by le · Les compré caramelos, with no a-phrase · le in que le compro	NGLE 35.5h assigns this indirect object to the seller · a de+NP of that seller is unprinted in the lines opened · doubling of a postposed full noun is normally optional	from + person (from a friend of mine)
Beneficiary	para+NP · not an indirect object · revisable	para mi hermana · para su mamá · para su hijo	the para-phrase cannot be replaced by le for the same person · Le compró flores para su mamá marks le ≠ su mamá · a bare second noun of that person is unprinted	first object of [+ two objects] (his mother) · or for + person
Price	por of the payment, where the class is named · or a + a rate · working MeasureP inside that phrase	the class names comprar · filled neighbors por diez euros on dar, por cien dólares on alquilar, por doscientos pesos on adquirir · a quinientos soles · a diez pesos	oblique · the sum and the unit stay inside the phrase that prints them · comprar algo por 20 euros is unprinted · a 3 euros el kilo is unprinted · a bare measure after the goods is unprinted on comprar	Cambridge’s commercial lines opened here do not print a numeral for · the for they print is the beneficiary
Shop / place	en+NP · the printed line is intransitive	en tiendas del barrio	DLE sense 3, habitual purchase, with no goods in the clause · an a of a shop is unprinted on comprar in the lines opened · this page does not rank en against a place-a	a shop phrase is unprinted in the Cambridge lines opened

Marking map. One letter can belong to several heads. Read the line, then the marker.

Direct object of the goods. The DLE’s first sense is Obtener algo por un precio, transitive, antonym vender. The definition names a price and does not fill a sum. NGLE 34.2ñ prints Tu amigo solo compra la prensa deportiva and calls that nominal the direct object of compra. Wikcionario’s first sense is Adquirir algo mediante el intercambio de su valor en dinero, and the example’s goods are Los miles de hectáreas. The direct object is the thing bought. It is not the price and not the person, except in the bribe sense, which stays off this frame.
The selected a / le is the Seller. NGLE 35.5h groups alquilar, arrendar, comprar, and vender as exchange verbs. It says the indirect object of comprar designates the seller, and prints Le compré el auto. The indirect object of vender designates the buyer. The indirect object of alquilar can be either party, and only the context decides. comprar is not the verb that note leaves open. The Gramática básica prints the seller as an indirect object in Le compró al librero (CI) una enciclopedia para su hijo. A de+NP of that seller is unprinted in the DLE, in the DPD, in these grammar sections, and in the Wikcionario lines opened. The printed seller marking is a or le.
para+NP is the Beneficiary, and it is not that indirect object. The Gramática básica 20.2.2.3 says a traditional treatment of a para-destinatario as an indirect object lacks formal support. A para-phrase cannot be replaced by a dative pronoun, and it cannot co-occur with one for the same referent: Le compró flores para su mamá [le ≠ su mamá]. The brackets are the entry’s. The same section prints the seller and the beneficiary together. Gramática básica 16.1.4.2 lists destinatario among the uses of para and prints Lo compré para mi hermana. English for of a person matches that para. French à does not: Larousse glosses j'ai acheté un livre à Pierre both as the seller and as the beneficiary.
Doubling of le with an a+NP is usual, and it is not obligatory for every postposed noun. The DPD, pronombres personales átonos §5, says duplication of the indirect object is always possible and in some cases obligatory. When the full phrase follows the verb, coappearance is normally optional and is usually the most frequent, especially in speech. The model is (Le) he dicho la verdad a mi madre. The parentheses are the entry’s. The Gramática básica 20.2.2.2 says doubling is obligatory when the indirect object is preposed, and, with any verb, when it is a tonic personal pronoun: Me entregó el paquete a mí beside *Entregó el paquete a mí. The printed comprar line with a full seller noun includes the clitic, Le compró al librero. Les compré caramelos has the clitic and no a-phrase. A comprar line that prints a postposed seller noun and leaves the clitic out is unprinted. This page does not call the doubling obligatory for every a+NP.
le before lo is se. DPD se §1a: when dative le(s) precedes a third-person accusative, it takes the form se. The printed pair is Les compré caramelos > Se los compré. The goods are the accusative. The entry does not add a seller gloss or a beneficiary gloss. The slot is the indirect object that NGLE 35.5h assigns to the seller of comprar.
Price is por of the payment, or a plus a rate. NGLE 36.10e says verbs of transaction take por for the payment, and the list is adquirir, alquilar, ceder, comprar, dar, vender. The filled examples on that page are ¿Me lo das por diez euros? and Se lo alquilaron por cien dólares. Neither verb is comprar. Gramática básica 16.1.4.2 glosses por as the quantity for which something is sold or bought, and prints Lo adquirió por doscientos pesos. The verb is adquirir. NGLE 36.6n says a, almost always alternating with por, marks distributive value or price with alquilar, comprar, costar, resultar, salir, valer, vender. The comprar piece of the citation is le compro a quinientos soles. Wikcionario prints compró a diez pesos. A bare measure is printed on that page for salir, Te saldrá diez dólares la docena, not for comprar. The wordings comprar algo por 20 euros and a 3 euros el kilo are unprinted. Neither is constructed. para is not this price.
en+NP is the shop in one intransitive line. DLE sense 3, intransitive, is Realizar una compra, especialmente si se hace de forma habitual, and the example is Compramos en tiendas del barrio. No goods are in that clause. Gramática básica 16.1.4.2 says en marks location, and the examples are en el cajón and en Venezuela, not a shop of comprar. An a of a place is unprinted on comprar in the lines opened. This page does not rank en against that unprinted place-a.
What French leaves on one à, Spanish splits. On acheter Larousse prints both glosses of à Pierre. On comprar the selected a / le is the seller, and the beneficiary is para. The Spanish verb whose a-phrase NGLE 35.5h leaves to context is alquilar, not comprar. German kaufen spells the beneficiary as a bare dative. German abkaufen spells the seller as a bare dative. English from and for make the split that Spanish a and para also make.

EN ⇄ ES valency strip

Each row lines up one English slot with a Spanish slot. The alignment type says what happens to the slot: = (same object status), or shift (from / for ↔ the Spanish marker the line prints). Printed dictionary lines come first. Every other sentence is constructed, modelled on a printed line. They show the working alignment, not frequency, and not a bilingual corpus.

English–Spanish valency alignment for buy / comprar, one row per argument
Slot	EN form	ES form	Align	EN example	ES example
Buyer	SUBJ of buy	subject	=	I bought my camera from a friend of mine Cambridge	Le compré el auto NGLE · 35.5h
Goods	OBJ of buy	direct object	=	buy a small car Cambridge	la prensa deportiva NGLE · 34.2ñ · direct object · una enciclopedia Gramática básica · Los miles de hectáreas Wikcionario
Seller	from + person	a+NP · clitic le	shift · from ↔ a / le	I bought my camera from a friend of mine Cambridge	Le compré el auto NGLE · 35.5h · the seller · al librero Gramática básica · labeled CI
Seller as de	from + person	unprinted	not the printed seller marking	the same Cambridge from	— de+NP of a seller unprinted
Beneficiary as para	for + person, or the first object of [+ two objects]	para+NP · not a CI	= the person · the Spanish phrase is not the indirect object	He bought some flowers for his mother Cambridge · the slash-mate of the double object	Lo compré para mi hermana Gramática básica · 16.1.4.2 · destinatario
Seller and Beneficiary together	from and for would be two phrases · unprinted as one Cambridge line	a / le of the Seller beside para of the Beneficiary	the two persons stack · they are not one le	—	Le compró al librero una enciclopedia para su hijo Gramática básica · 20.2.2.3 · le ≠ su mamá the same section
Price as por	unprinted as a numeral for in the Cambridge lines opened	por of the payment · the class includes comprar	the class is printed · a filled comprar + por + sum is unprinted	—	¿Me lo das por diez euros? NGLE · 36.10e · dar · por cien dólares the same section · alquilar · Lo adquirió por doscientos pesos Gramática básica · adquirir
Price as a + a rate	unprinted as a rate in the lines opened	a + a rate	a second price cloth · not the person-a	—	a quinientos soles NGLE · 36.6n · a diez pesos Wikcionario · Daireaux, 1910
Bare measure	unprinted	unprinted on comprar	not constructed	—	— por 20 euros unprinted · a 3 euros el kilo unprinted · a bare measure is printed for salir, not for comprar
Shop	unprinted in the lines opened	en+NP · intransitive	the Spanish shop is printed · the goods are not in that line	—	Compramos en tiendas del barrio DLE · sense 3
Passive of the goods	the goods as subject	the goods as subject of the pasiva refleja	= promotion of the direct object	The company was set up to buy and sell shares Cambridge · active · a goods-passive of buy is unprinted in the lines opened	Con plata se compran huevos DPD · se §2.2 · Parra, 2005

The strip below is a set of small multiples. Each card holds one frame, with English on top and Spanish under it. The Seller chip is le or a. The Beneficiary chip is para. The price card stays inside a rate. The shop card stays inside en.

EN · ES · selected le is the Seller

Le compré el auto

I bought the car from him.

Le compré el auto.

ES · NGLE · 35.5h · the seller gloss is the section’s · EN side constructed from that gloss

RolesHide roles BuyerSellerGoods

Buyer I · compré Seller from him · le Goods the car · el auto

Move English from is Spanish le · French à does not choose · German puts this seller on the dative of abkaufen

EN · ES · printed para of a person

para mi hermana

He bought some flowers for his mother.

Lo compré para mi hermana.

ES · Gramática básica · 16.1.4.2 · destinatario · EN · Cambridge · for of a person

RolesHide roles BuyerBeneficiaryGoods

Buyer I · he Beneficiary for his mother · para mi hermana Goods some flowers · lo

= para+person matches English for+person · this para is not an indirect object and not the sum

EN · ES · printed rate, beside le

a quinientos soles

For each head of cattle that I buy from him at five hundred soles.

Por cada res que le compro a quinientos soles.

ES · NGLE · 36.6n · Scorza, Tumba · EN gloss constructed

RolesHide roles BuyerSellerGoodsPrice

Buyer compro Seller le Goods each head · cada res Price at five hundred soles · a quinientos soles

= a is the rate · le is the Seller · a numeral English for is unprinted in the Cambridge lines · por 20 euros is unprinted on comprar

EN · ES · printed en

en tiendas del barrio

We shop at neighborhood stores.

Compramos en tiendas del barrio.

ES · DLE · sense 3 · intransitive · EN gloss constructed

RolesHide roles BuyerShop

Buyer Compramos · we Shop en tiendas del barrio

Move en is the shop · no goods in the line · not the person in a · a shop phrase is unprinted in the Cambridge lines opened

Examples

Argument difference. English can package the beneficiary and the goods as two bare objects, He bought his mother some flowers, or put that person in for, and it puts the seller in from. Spanish prints one direct object, the goods. The selected person in a or le is the Seller. The Beneficiary is para, and that para is not the same clitic: le ≠ su mamá. The two phrases stack in Le compró al librero una enciclopedia para su hijo. French acheter à does not make that split. On kaufen the dative is the beneficiary, and on abkaufen the dative is the seller. The converse vender puts the seller in the subject. NGLE 35.5h says the indirect object of vender designates the buyer. That buyer is not the beneficiary of comprar.

Dictionary frames and lines · checked · quoted as printed

Obtener algo por un precio. Antonym vender. DLE · sense 1 · transitive · the price is named · no sum is filled · no a alguien and no para are printed on the article

Comprar al árbitro. DLE · sense 2 · bribe · the person is the direct object · off the purchase frame

Compramos en tiendas del barrio. DLE · sense 3 · intransitive · habitual purchase · the shop · no goods in the clause

el complemento indirecto de comprar designe el vendedor (Le compré el auto) NGLE · 35.5h · the seller gloss is the section’s · the indirect object of vender is the buyer · the indirect object of alquilar can be either party

Le compró flores para su mamá [le ≠ su mamá]. · Le compró al librero (CI) una enciclopedia para su hijo. Gramática básica · 20.2.2.3 · para is not an indirect object · the seller and the beneficiary coexist · the brackets and the (CI) are the entry’s

Lo compré para mi hermana. Gramática básica · 16.1.4.2 · para · destinatario

Lo adquirió por doscientos pesos. Gramática básica · 16.1.4.2 · por · the quantity for which something is sold or bought · the verb is adquirir

¿Me lo das por diez euros? · Se lo alquilaron por cien dólares. NGLE · 36.10e · por of the payment · the class list includes comprar · the filled verbs are dar and alquilar

Por cada res que le compro a quinientos soles, él me vende, por su cuenta, nueve vacunos a cien soles. NGLE · 36.6n · Scorza, Tumba · a quinientos soles is the rate of comprar · a cien soles is the rate of vender

Les compré caramelos > Se los compré. DPD · se §1a · dative le(s) before a third-person accusative is se · no a-phrase · the person is unglossed

Con plata se compran huevos, decía mi viejo. DPD · se §2.2 · pasiva refleja · Parra, Manos, 2005 · the goods are the subject

(Le) he dicho la verdad a mi madre. · Me entregó el paquete a mí ~ *Entregó el paquete a mí. DPD · átonos §5.2a · the parentheses are the entry’s · Gramática básica · 20.2.2.2 · doubling of a postposed full noun is normally optional · a tonic pronoun requires the clitic · the model verbs are not comprar

Los miles de hectáreas que hace tres años compró a diez pesos, hoy valen cincuenta. Wikcionario · Daireaux, Los milagros de la Argentina, 1910 · a diez pesos is the rate · not a person

compró á Alcalá Galiano Wikcionario · sense 2 · bribe · de la Fuente, 1874 · the person is the direct object · off the purchase frame

The DPD has no headword comprar. DPD · the absence is the page’s

He bought his mother some flowers / He bought some flowers for his mother. · I bought my camera from a friend of mine. · buy a small car. Cambridge · buy · [+ two objects] is the entry’s label · the slash is the entry’s

Who'd Father buy the car for? He bought it for me, not for you. English Wiktionary · buy · ditransitive · for is the person

She'll never buy that story about you getting lost! Cambridge · buy verb (BELIEVE) · informal · off the purchase frame

The paradigm the DLE prints is regular: compro, compré, he comprado, comprando, comprado. Wikcionario files the conjugation under the paradigm of amar. DLE · Wikcionario That paradigm is morphology. It is not a second event.

Strings below are constructed, modelled on the printed lines. They are not spontaneous-speech citations and not dictionary lines. Pat continues the named-participant series on vender. A name does not spell a role. le is the clitic NGLE prints on the seller line.

✓ Pat le compra el auto.

RolesHide roles BuyerSellerGoods

Buyer Pat Seller le Goods el auto

constructed · modelled on NGLE’s Le compré el auto, filed as the seller · Pat is the substitution

✓ Pat le compra una enciclopedia al librero para su hijo.

RolesHide roles BuyerSellerBeneficiaryGoods

Buyer Pat Seller le · al librero Beneficiary para su hijo Goods una enciclopedia

constructed · the complements are the Gramática básica’s · Pat is the only substitution · le doubles the seller · para is not that le

✓ Pat lo compra para su hermana.

RolesHide roles BuyerBeneficiaryGoods

Buyer Pat Beneficiary para su hermana Goods lo

constructed · modelled on Lo compré para mi hermana · para of a person · not a price

✓ Pat compra en tiendas del barrio.

RolesHide roles BuyerShop

Buyer Pat Shop en tiendas del barrio

constructed · modelled on the DLE’s intransitive Compramos en tiendas del barrio · no goods in the line

* Pat compra Pedro un libro.

RolesHide roles PersonGoods

Person Pedro Goods un libro

constructed · two bare objects · the printed person beside the goods is a / le or para · English his mother has no preposition

* Pat compra el auto a mí.

RolesHide roles TonicGoods

Tonic a mí Goods el auto

constructed · a tonic indirect object with no clitic · modelled on the Gramática básica’s *Entregó el paquete a mí · the rule is for any verb · the printed tonic requires me

✓ Obtener algo por un precio DLE · sense 1 · goods · the price named, no sum filled
✓ Le compré el auto NGLE · 35.5h · Seller
✓ Lo compré para mi hermana Gramática básica · Beneficiary · not a CI
✓ Le compró al librero … para su hijo Gramática básica · Seller and Beneficiary in one clause
✓ a quinientos soles NGLE · 36.6n · rate · not a person
✓ en tiendas del barrio DLE · the shop · no goods
✓ Se los compré DPD · se is le before lo
✓ Con plata se compran huevos DPD · the goods are the subject

What the passive shows

The passive is an operation on the same places. It does not add a participant. The participle comprado is the form the DLE prints. It is not given a telicity reading. Neither is se.

Passive of the goods. DPD se §2.2 prints Con plata se compran huevos as a pasiva refleja of a thing. The eggs are the subject. The verb agrees with them. No seller and no beneficiary are in that line. Con plata is the means in the citation. It is not filed here as a second price shape. A passive that keeps a seller or a beneficiary and leaves the goods as object is unprinted. Nothing further is constructed.

The other senses stay off the purchase frame. DLE sense 2, Comprar al árbitro, puts the person in the direct object. Wikcionario’s bribe line, compró á Alcalá Galiano, is the same. DLE sense 4, pronominal, is the colloquial Argentine fall, se compró la puerta. Wikcionario senses 3 and 4, colloquial accept and colloquial observe, print no clause. Cambridge’s She'll never buy that story is the English believe sense. Those lines stop at the citation. A pronominal purchase, buyer and beneficiary the same person, is unprinted in the lines opened. It is not constructed.

Derivations · working sketches, revisable

Each sketch is a working drawing, not a locked analysis. The drawing gives the Buyer to Voice, the Goods to the root, the Seller to the selected a / le, the Beneficiary to para, a Price to the phrase that prints the payment or the rate, and the shop to en in the intransitive line. Open one sketch at a time. Which theta role is the object is the revisable note Causative templates and argument selection. This page does not edit that note.

Voice · the Buyer is the external argument

Constructed · the finite verb · one external argument

[TP Pat
  [VoiceP Pat Voice                     ← Buyer = Spec,Voice
    … comprar … ]]

✓ Pat compra el auto. constructed

The external argument is the Buyer. English keeps that one subject on buy. A passive of the goods has no overt Buyer. The DPD’s se compran huevos is that line. On vender the external argument is the Seller, not this Buyer.

The a-phrase is the Seller · para is the Beneficiary

One direct object · one selected indirect object · one para · working, revisable

[VoiceP Pat Voice
  [ApplP [a el librero ] Appl            ← Seller · CI · le doubles it
    [VP √compr-
       [Theme una enciclopedia ]
       [PP para [ su hijo ]]]]]          ← Beneficiary · not that le
                                          ← Gramática básica

[VoiceP Pat Voice
  [VP √compr-
     [Theme lo ]
     [PP para [ su hermana ]]]]          ← Gramática básica · 16.1.4.2

[VoiceP Pat Voice
  [ApplP le Appl                         ← Seller
    [VP √compr-
       [Theme cada res ]
       [PP a [ quinientos soles ]]]]]    ← rate · NGLE 36.6n
                                          ← not the person-a

The Seller and the Beneficiary are not one role and not one preposition. The a of quinientos soles is the rate. en is the shop, a different preposition, and the printed shop line has no goods. A de of the seller is unprinted.

✓ Le compré el auto NGLE · seller

✓ Le compró al librero una enciclopedia para su hijo Gramática básica · both persons

✓ Lo compré para mi hermana Gramática básica · beneficiary

* Pat compra Pedro un libro. constructed · two bare objects · unprinted

English counterpart · from, for, and the double object · French à · German datives

Working · no English buy page is opened · French is acheter · German is kaufen

[VoiceP I Voice
  [VP √BUY
     [Theme my camera ]
     [PP from [ a friend of mine ]]]]     ← Cambridge
                                          · Spanish a / le

[VoiceP he Voice
  [ApplP his mother Appl                  ← Beneficiary · bare object
    [VP √BUY
       [Theme some flowers ]]]]           ← Cambridge [+ two objects]
                                          · a Spanish bare second noun is unprinted

[VoiceP he Voice
  [VP √BUY
     [Theme some flowers ]
     [PP for [ his mother ]]]]            ← the same Cambridge line
                                          · Spanish para+person is printed
                                          · a numeral English for is unprinted

Cambridge’s from is the seller. Spanish spells that person as a or as le. Cambridge’s for of a person, and the first object of [+ two objects], are the beneficiary. Spanish spells that person as para, not as the same a. French à covers both readings of acheter. German kaufen spells the beneficiary as a bare dative. German abkaufen spells the seller as a bare dative.

Layer-by-layer parallel: English buy, Spanish comprar, French acheter, German kaufen
Layer	buy (EN) · no page	comprar	acheter	kaufen / abkaufen
Spec,Voice	Buyer	Buyer · on vender this layer is the Seller	Buyer · on vendre this layer is the Seller	Buyer · on verkaufen this layer is the Seller
Beneficiary	bare first object, or for + person	para+NP · not a CI · not the same le as the Seller	à+NP, the same phrase as the Seller · pour+NP	dative on kaufen · für+person unprinted
Seller	from + person	selected a+NP or le · de+NP unprinted	à+NP · lui on the seller line · de+NP where printed	bare dative on abkaufen · von+dative where kaufen prints it
Goods	object	direct object	direct object	accusative
Price	unprinted as a numeral for in the lines opened	por on the transaction class · a + a rate · a bare measure unprinted on this verb	pour + a sum · à + a rate	für + a sum
Shop	unprinted in the lines opened	en+NP · intransitive in the line opened	chez+NP · place-à unranked	bei+dative, unranked against von

On vender the subject is the seller, and NGLE 35.5h says the indirect object is the buyer. On comprar the subject is that buyer, the indirect object is the seller, and para is the beneficiary. The analogy is the added person-phrase. It is not a claim that a beneficiary and a seller are one role.

Notes

Working paper · October 2026 · Spanish micro-entry · Beyond Index 2

Buying in Spanish is not one a. Buyer (Voice, subject), Goods (complement of the root, direct object), Seller in the selected a+NP or in le, Beneficiary in para+NP, Price in por of the transaction class or in a + a rate where a line prints it, and the shop in en+NP in the intransitive line. English buy X from Y is from. English buy something for someone is for. A numeral English for is unprinted in the lines opened. French acheter à leaves the person ambiguous. German kaufen puts the beneficiary in a bare dative. German abkaufen puts the seller in a bare dative.

ES micro-entry live Beyond Index 2 a/le seller versus para beneficiary FR acheter live DE kaufen live

Sense × language: buy · Spanish (comprar). The purchase sense is the page. The bribe sense, the Argentine pronominal fall, and the colloquial accept and observe lines stay off the frame. No English buy hub. Geometry neighbors: sell · vender, the converse, buy · acheter, and buy · kaufen. Index 2 Spanish Transfer cites intercambiar, cambiar, dar — not this verb. Payment cites pagar, transferir, girar.

Places
EN ⇄ ES strip
Examples
Voice
Derivations
Hierarchy
Geometry
Open items
Corpus and sources

Working paper. Spanish micro-entry, the third language of buy. Dictionary frames were read on the DLE (comprar), on the DPD (se and pronombres personales átonos; no headword comprar), on the Nueva gramática (34.2ñ, 35.5h, 36.6n, and 36.10e), on the Nueva gramática básica (20.2.2 and 16.1.4.2), and on Spanish Wiktionary, with Cambridge and English Wiktionary for English buy.

Constructed examples. Dictionary lines are marked as printed. Every other full clause is marked constructed. The bare double object is starred because the filled person-marking beside the goods is a, le, or para. A tonic indirect object with no clitic is starred because the grammar requires the clitic. A bare measure, por 20 euros, and a 3 euros el kilo are unprinted on comprar and are not constructed.

Arity: several places, not one flat verb. Index 2 does not list comprar. Surface count can name a buyer, the goods, a seller, a beneficiary, a price, and a shop. The lexicon does not list those as co-arguments of one flat V. Voice adds the Buyer. The root takes the Goods. The selected indirect object adds the Seller. para adds a Beneficiary. por or a rate-a adds a Price, according to the line. en adds the shop in the intransitive line. No telicity claim is made from the participle or from se.

What this page does not do. It does not open an English page of buy. It does not edit kaufen or acheter beyond the language list, and it does not edit vender or alquilar. The bribe sense and the believe line stop at the citation.

Hierarchy

Not a flat grid of six sisters, and not one preposition copied from the English gloss. Voice adds the Buyer. The root takes the Goods. The selected a / le adds the Seller. para adds the Beneficiary. por adds a Price when the complement is the payment, and a of a rate adds a Price of another shape. en adds the shop. The drawing is working and revisable.

What Spanish changes, against French acheter à, is that the selected indirect object is the seller and the beneficiary is a different preposition. What Spanish changes, against German kaufen and abkaufen, is that the two dative roles stay on one lemma and are not both bare datives. What Spanish shares with English is para of a person, matching for of a person, and a seller marker that is not that beneficiary marker. The printed Spanish rate has no numeral twin in the Cambridge lines opened here.

Geometry · buy beside vender, acheter, and kaufen

English buy. Beneficiary as the first object of [+ two objects], or in for. Seller in from. English Wiktionary prints for me. A numeral for is unprinted in the lines opened. Believe sense buy that story, informal. No English page is opened.
comprar. Direct-object goods. Selected a+NP or le of the Seller. para+NP of the Beneficiary, not the same le. por of the payment on the transaction class. a of a rate. en of the shop, intransitive in the line opened. de of a Seller unprinted.
acheter. The other language of buy whose person-marker is a preposition. à+NP of the Seller or of the Beneficiary. Larousse prints both glosses of one sentence. pour+NP of the Beneficiary. Spanish a is not that ambiguity.
kaufen. Accusative goods. Bare dative beneficiary. Price für + a sum. On abkaufen the bare dative is the seller. That split is a split of lemmas.
vender. The converse. The seller is the subject. NGLE 35.5h says the indirect object designates the buyer. That buyer is not the beneficiary of comprar, and it is not the seller of comprar.
alquilar. The exchange verb whose a-phrase NGLE 35.5h leaves to context. comprar is the one they assign to the seller.

Open items

A non-selected indirect object on comprar. NGLE 35.5h says exchange verbs can also take a non-argumental indirect object, and the printed example is Me ofrezco a vender te el auto, in the sense of offering to make the sale in that person’s name. A beneficiary reading of a / le on comprar is unprinted. Not constructed.
A de+NP of the Seller. Unprinted in the lines opened. The printed seller marking is a or le. Not constructed.
A bare measure, por 20 euros, and a 3 euros el kilo. Unprinted on comprar. The class names comprar under por of the payment, and the filled sums are on dar, alquilar, and adquirir. The printed rates on comprar are a quinientos soles and a diez pesos. A bare measure is printed for salir. Not constructed.
Seller, beneficiary, goods, and a sum in one clause. Unprinted. The bookseller line stacks the seller, the beneficiary, and the goods, with no sum. The Scorza line stacks the seller clitic, the goods, and a rate, with no para. The four together are not one citation.
Doubling of a postposed seller noun, on this verb. The general rule is optional and usually frequent. The bookseller line is printed with le. A comprar line with that noun and no clitic is unprinted. A preposed phrase and a tonic pronoun require the clitic. Not ranked further.
en of a shop beside the goods. The printed en line has no goods. Not constructed as a transitive.
A person kept under the passive. Unprinted. The printed passive promotes the goods. Not constructed.
A numeral for on English buy. Unprinted in the Cambridge lines opened here, and unprinted in the English Wiktionary lines opened here. Not supplied from outside those lines.

Corpus filenames and sources

Dictionary frames: DLE comprar; DPD se and pronombres personales átonos, with no headword comprar; Nueva gramática de la lengua española 34.2ñ, 35.5h, 36.6n, and 36.10e; Nueva gramática básica 20.2.2 and 16.1.4.2; Spanish Wiktionary comprar; Cambridge buy; English Wiktionary buy. Constructed clauses put a printed marker on a named buyer. Index 2 does not list this lemma. Spanish Transfer in Index 2 is intercambiar, cambiar, dar.

DLE · comprar dle.rae.es/comprar · Obtener algo por un precio · Comprar al árbitro · Compramos en tiendas del barrio
DPD · se rae.es/dpd/se · Les compré caramelos > Se los compré · Con plata se compran huevos
DPD · pronombres personales átonos rae.es/dpd/pronombres personales átonos · §5 · doubling normally optional and usually frequent · no headword comprar
NGLE · 35.5h complementos indirectos seleccionados · Le compré el auto · the seller
NGLE · 36.6n complementos de régimen · a · a quinientos soles
NGLE · 36.10e complementos de régimen · por · the class includes comprar · por diez euros on dar
NGLE · direct object sustitutos pronominales del complemento directo · la prensa deportiva
Gramática básica · 20.2.2 propiedades del complemento indirecto · al librero · para su mamá · doubling
Gramática básica · 16.1.4.2 las preposiciones del español · Lo compré para mi hermana · Lo adquirió por doscientos pesos
Spanish Wiktionary · comprar es.wiktionary.org/wiki/comprar · a diez pesos · the bribe line
Cambridge · buy dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/buy · [+ two objects] · for his mother · from a friend of mine · buy that story
English Wiktionary · buy en.wiktionary.org/wiki/buy · ditransitive · for me
French buy · acheter · à seller or beneficiary
German buy · kaufen · dative beneficiary · abkaufen dative seller
Spanish converse sell · vender · seller subject · buyer the indirect object

Records the subject Buyer and the direct-object Goods of comprar. Records that the selected a+NP or le is the Seller, and that para+NP is the Beneficiary and not that indirect object. Records por of the payment class and a of a rate. Records en of the shop. Does not open an English page.