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7.5: "Se" impersonal y "se" accidental

Last updated

Jan 4, 2024
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- 7.4.1: Práctica- Verbos que cambian de significado en el pretérito
- 7.5.1: Práctica- "Se" impersonal y "se" accidental

M. Barrio De Mendoza, K Gutiérrez, H.Ho, C. Lin, & A Stere Lugo
ASCCC Open Educational Resources Initiative

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Constructions with "se": Impersonal "se" and accidental "se"

"Se" impersonal

"Se" for general and impersonal information is used to express general and impersonal information in which the subject is not given or is unspecified. "Se" impersonal is used for signs and ads. The “se” construction is used as follow:

Singular

Se + verb (present in 3^rd person singular) + singular noun

Se habla español.

Se alquila apartamento.

Note that in the examples above the verb in present tense and the singular noun are in bold.

Plural

Se + verb (present in 3^rd person plural) + plural noun

Se venden los periódicos aquí.

Se buscan meseros en este restaurante.

Note that in the examples above the verb in present tense and the plural noun are in bold.

Se + verb (present in 3^rd person singular) + adverb or preposition

Se ve mejor con estos lentes.

Se maneja con alegría en este coche.

Note that in the examples above the verb and the adverb or preposition are in bold.

"Se" accidental

"Se" for accidental or unplanned events: In order to imply that no one is directly responsible for an accidental or unplanned event, Spanish uses the following “Se" construction:

Se	IOP	Verb (preterite)	Subject
Se	me te le nos os les	cayó	el plato.

IOP

Verb (preterite)

Subject

nos

les

cayó

el plato.

In this construction, the indirect object pronoun indicates to whom the accidental or unplanned event affects. What normally is the direct object of the sentence (what is lost, forgotten, and so on,) is now the subject and the verb is now conjugated to this new subject (normally the 3rd person singular or plural). Because the event has already occurred, the verb tense used is normally the preterite.

Se	IOP	Verb (preterite)	Subject
Se	me te le nos os les	cayeron descompuso olvidaron perdió quedaron rompió	los libros. la televisión. las bebidas para la fiesta. el dinero. los boletos en casa. el vaso.

IOP

Verb (preterite)

Subject

nos

les

cayeron

descompuso

olvidaron

perdió

quedaron

rompió

los libros.

la televisión.

las bebidas para la fiesta.

el dinero.

los boletos en casa.

el vaso.

List of verbs often used with se to describe accidental or unplanned events

Spanish	English	Spanish	English
caer	to fall; to drop	dañar	to damage; to break down
descomponer	to break down (appliances, electronic devices & transportation)	olvidar	to forget
perder (ie)	to lose	quebrar	to break
quedar	to be left behind	romper	to break

To clarify or emphasize whom the action happened to (the indirect object pronoun), use "a + [noun]" or "a + [prepositional pronoun]".

Al conductor se le perdió la llave. (The driver lost his key.)

A mí se me cayó el pastel. (I dropped the cake.)