Direct object pronouns

Hi all, Have a question in relation to lesson 4.4 and would be most grateful for some help. In this lesson, the following sentence is used: "Nos especializamos en la carne de res." I don't understand why "Nos" is necessary? The sentence is "We specialise in beef". The "we" is not the subject of the verb (to specialise). In addition, there are other examples in earlier lessons which did not use "Nos", e.g.: "Tenemos que" - We have to... "Tenemos un restaurante en la planta baja" - We have a restaurant on the ground floor "Necessitamos traer" - We need to bring So why is "Nos" being used on this occasion? Would be extremely grateful for some help! Peter

The verb used is "especializarse", which is a reflexive verb (a verb in which the action reflects back upon the user). Many verbs can be reflexive, but some are almost always reflexive such as "I shower myself" (me ducho), "I brush my hair" (me cepillo el pelo), and many many others. Note that the "me" above is the reflexive pronoun in the "yo" form. Reflexive verbs are covered in lesson 6.6 of the Language and Culture portion. Great catch! And, by the way, "nos" is the reflexive pronoun for the "nosotros" form (as you have already figured out). Reflexive verbs end in "se", such as banarse, especializarse, enfermarse, cepillarse and so forth.

I should add that "Nos especializmos" would be saying that "We specialize ourselves" in beef, therefore the verb reflects back to the user. Me llamo John is the reflexive verb "llamarse", meaning "I call myself John". The "se" on the end of the verb indicates that it is reflexive, and requires the use of the reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nos, os se), and is a sort of a "place holder" as it were. Remove the "se", conjugate the verb normally, and use the proper reflexive pronoun. The are also used in the infinitive form by adding the proper pronoun at the end (in place of se), such as: Neccisito llevantarme temprano - I need to get myself up early.

¡Bien dicho JC! Lo has explicado muy bien. Saludos, Rich