Me lo dejé - why does it need the me?

Question

I am using the Pimsleur course. Currently i am on a section where the actor keeps saying 'me lo dejé en la mesa' for 'I left it on the table'.

Now everywhere I look online it suggests that this should only say 'lo dejé' and not 'me lo dejé'. Why would they add 'me'? It doesn't feel like it needs it, as the 'I forgot' bit is understood by dejé, and the 'it' by lo. It isn't reflexive I don't think.

Thanks!

Accepted Answer

Hola Ian y John
Yes, absolutely, that is the "se aspectual" talking... here's the lesson.
If you want to convey that idea of leaving something in a place for "yourself", i.e. you left some left-overs in the fridge to eat up the following day [yourself] or you left a note with a reminder about doing something so you see it later so you don't forget, for example, you would still use the reflexive pronoun (the same way the se aspectual is used):
Me he dejado/me he puesto una nota ahí en la pantalla del portátil para acordarme de llamar a Marta. 
I put/left a note on my laptop's screen so I remember to call Marta.
Me voy a poner el táper con el resto de la boloñesa en el frigorífico para llevármelo mañana al trabajo. 
I'm going to put the lunch box with the rest of the bolognese sauce to take it with me to work tomorrow.
Ponte el paraguas al lado de la puerta y así no se te olvidará mañana.
Put/leave the umbrella by the door so you won't forget tomorrow.
 
I hope it clarified it.
: ))

Answer

Hola Ian,This is a bit of a shot in the dark but what you may be seeing here is the use of “se aspectual.” It is an aspect of Spanish grammar where the action of the verb is emphasised, and expresses the culmination or completion of an action. For example “Me comí la manzana” would mean I ate up the apple / I wolfed it / I finished it. Irse means more than “to leave”, it means ‘to split,” or “to be off [out of here.”]If you search on the toolbar for “Different uses of Se” you will find a great lesson on it. They mention that it doesn’t work with every verb and I can’t be sure if dejar is a possibility, but I imagine that someone could protest that, for example, having used a key they could say “I left it [right there] on the table” stressing that it was the completion of an action, and stressing that they had done it.On a separate tack, I wonder how one would say “I left it on the table for myself” implying that it was  not for anyone else to pick up. Could you use a pronominal form of dejar / dejarse? I’m sure that Inma can clarify the above. Saludos. John

Answer

Thanks John, it sounds like a possibility. I wonder if anyone else has a definitive answer?

Answer

Thanks for the comprehensive reply. My only concern is that your answer suggests that the 'leaving' of something was intentional and planned ie the leaving of a note, whereas in the Pimsleur it was accidental - he left something behind unintentionally when actually he would rather have had it with him.

Thanks