Meaning of "se está librando"

Question

En el estado de California se está librando una batalla legal sobre la constitucionalidad de la 'Proposión 8', una ley aprobada en 2009 que impide los matrimonios entre personas del mismo sexo...

In the sentence above from a news article in Univision, the author writes the phrase se está librando. Is the se impersonal (one is waging a legal battle)? I don't think it can be a passive se because there is the gerund librando. Or is one of the words pronomial: estarse or librarse?

Thanks in advance for any help.

Answer 1

I would say it's impersonal se - In the state of California a legal battle is being waged...

It doesn't tell us who is waging the battle, so it is impersonal.

Technically librando is not a gerund, but it is a gerundio being used in the present progressive tense. An English gerund is a verb ending in -ing that is being used as a noun. A Spanish gerundio is just a verb ending in -ando or -iendo, and is never used as a noun. None of the verbs are pronomial.

• Great answer - Dakie Feb 9, 2012
• Not sure it's impersonal se but more curious is why se is there at all. Does está librando una batalla legal sobre... translate to a legal battle is waging over...? - cdunn3 Feb 10, 2012