The "te" is superfluous. Normally, one would say "¿Lo puedes creer?" However, it is very common in Mexican speech to hear the reflexive added for emphasis. A similar thing happens when one hears "Me comí tres enchiladas". To the speaker, the fact that he/she actually ate three enchiladas is being stressed like, wow, I can't believe I ate three enchiladas." Again, one would normally say "Comí tres enchiladas" if it is stated in a matter of fact manner. The reflexive is added for emphasis because I can't believe it myself.

So, "¿Te lo puedes creer?" is like saying "Can you believe it?" when the speaker himself/herself is also having a hard time believing it.

You will also often see "No me lo creo" in Mexican Spanish for I can't believe it. It is the same concept.

Hmm... I think the use of the pronominal "creerse" is really just emphatic. I found this in the dictionary of this site:

creerse pronomial verb to believe completely (dar por cierto) * no me lo creo o puedo creer -> I can't or don't believe it

So, in this case, I just think the pronominal verb is being used in a way like "Can you believe it???". Don't quote me on that. Let's wait for a native like Heidi to tell us about the regional uses, etc.

I've not a native so I have no clue really, but I believe this concept has been introduced here, but only briefly.

Can you believe it? is how we would say it in English.
Inverting the question. You can believe it? (active voice)

Spanish seems to like to say these thing passively.

Can it be believed by you? (Hence the inclusion of the passive se pronoun)

Why is the passive form used rather than the active form?

We were given some hints in previous posts.

Some of these pronominal forms are use to show possession as with the relexive se and clothing.

Me pongo el sombrero. (I put on MY hat)

Se pongo el sombrero. (I put on HIS hat) [I'm dressing my son]

Then there was our infamous: The ship sank.

Se hundío el barco.

La radio se rompío.

This was explained as the detransitizing se that avoided asking the questions, the ship sank what? or what sank the ship.? that came with the transitive statement.

We also have seen the

Me como la comida vs como la comida. where the addition of the pronominal pronoun added completeness. I ate it up. (entirely)

We have also been shown examples of how using the pronominal form added a sense of accidently or suddenly with olvidarse, and perderse.

Me olvidé las llaves.

So I'm not quite sure what adding the se does here (completeness makes sense), but I''m sure that probably both the non-pronominal and the pronominal sentence are correct here, but Spanish uses the pronominal form to give it a slightly diferent shading of meaning than without the pronominal pronoun.

Now lets wait for a native to tell us what the difference is between the two different versions.

I just read Nick's post. I like his explanations.

I really haven't stopped to figure out the grammar but it is a common expression of surprise in Spanish like "wow, can you believe it?"

I think that was were Jance went with "You must be kidding" or what I tried to mention with suddenness. I still think our basic question is whether the se being used reflexively for emphasis or pronominally to express the emotion of suprise, abruptness, to make it like an exclamation.

I think the verb used here is "poderse" and the "te" comes from the "se" on the end. But as for "puedes creerlo" it sounds right... and from what I remember, it looks right. But that's not definite.

Found this definition for poderse: poderse + infinitive = "to be able to + infinitive"

So, maybe, a more direct translation is "are you able to believe it"?

I do not believe poder and poderse are two different verbs. Neither are ir and irse two different verbs. Nor creer and creerse (which, by the way, is what I think is being used pronominally here, not poder.)

The dictionary lists both ir and irse because the verb has different meanings whether it is used pronominally or not, so it lists them separately. That does not make them different verbs. I have one of those pocket dictionaries of 500 verbs. None of them end in se. Did they just forget a whole class of Spanish verbs? No, it's because they aren't providing definitions there. So there is no reason to distinguish between ir and irse. Irse is just the verb ir being used pronominally. And not all verbs can be used pronominally with meaning change so you don't see a se form for every verb in the dictionary.

¡que te crees tú eso!

or

¡que te lo has creído! (Esp fam) you must be > kidding! (colloq)

To add to what others in this thread have explained, the above phrase from my Gran Diccionario Oxford is but one of many similar phrases showing the use of creerse. It fits.

Creo que te crees tú eso ahora! Lo intiendo yo también!

A terrific question, by the way!! very interesting.

In my book Barron's 501 Spanish verbs, I found this sentence:

No me lo creo. I can't believe it.

From my Franklin translator, I found this definition as a reflexive verb:

creerse vr = to believe, to think

However it also says that the regular verb creer v = to believe, to suppose, to think.

So apparently you can use creer either way (regular or reflexive verb) and it means the same thing.

similar phrases showing the use of creerse. It fits. Creo que te crees tú eso ahora! Lo intiendo yo también!

It looks very similar. The prononimal use with creer can mean many things as we've tried to point out here. The se can be used impersonally, reflexively, reciprocally, detransitively, and to create additional nuances, etc.

The question is whether the se [te] is being used reflexively (added for emphasis) or to give some different meaning to the sentence (like completeness). Your sentence provides the same question, but doesn't provide an answer to the question.

You sentence is even more interesting because it also includes the tú. If the te was there just for emphasis wouldn't the tú be overkill? It would be as bad as tossing in a ti at the beginning.

Creo que a ti te crees tú eso ahora.

The fact that they did include the tú may be a hint that the te is there for other reasons than emphasis.

Originally written by 'Q':

Spanish seems to like to say these thing passively. Can it be believed by you? (Hence the inclusion of the passive se pronoun) Why is the passive form used rather than the active form? We were given some hints in previous posts. Some of these pronominal forms are use to show possession as with the relexive se and clothing. Me pongo el sombrero. (I put on MY hat) Se pongo el sombrero. (I put on HIS hat) [I'm dressing my son] Then there was our infamous: The ship sank. Se hundío el barco. La radio se rompío. This was explained as the detransitizing se that avoided asking the questions, the ship sank what? or what sank the ship.? that came with the transitive statement. We also have seen the Me como la comida vs como la comida. where the addition of the pronominal pronoun added completeness. I ate it up. (entirely) We have also been shown examples of how using the pronominal form added a sense of accidently or suddenly with olvidarse, and perderse. Me olvidé las llaves. So I'm not quite sure what adding the se does here (completeness makes sense), but I''m sure that probably both the non-pronominal and the pronominal sentence are correct here, but Spanish uses the pronominal form to give it a slightly diferent shading of meaning than without the pronominal pronoun.

Nice Q. You almost got it.

In 'te lo puedes creer?' this is NOT the passive se thing going on. In this case, it's more alike to your 'me lo como' - I devoured it, showing entirety example. So, Nick is correct in his interpretation. However, you COULD also use creerse reflexively as well, as in 'ella se cree perfecta' She thinks she's perfect. Just that in this case, it's not being used like that. It's all context.

You also had 'Se pongo el sombrero' to say 'I put on his hat (dressing your son)'. In this case, you have to put 'Le pongo el sombrero a mi hijo'. When you use the passive 'se' thing, there needs to be a conjugated verb that agrees with it. 'Se' is third person singular or plural, so you also need a verb conjugated in the 3rd person sing./pl. Se me olvidó hacerlo-I forgot to do it. Se me olvidaron las llaves. I forgot my keys.

Note that in this first example, it is singular 'se olvidó' because what was forgotten is a singular idea, that of doing something. I forgot to do it. In the second case, it's 'se olvidaron' because what was forgotten is plural, 'las llaves'.

-Charlius-