I'm a little confused about 'se'.

Question

In lesson 2.3, it says that le is the third person indirect object, but it is turned into se whenever it is in front of a direct object beginning with 'l'. So even though you would say "Ella le da el pastel a el," when you shorten it you'd say, "Ella se lo da."

However, I'm a little confused because I'm seeing and hearing se in a lot of other situations. "¿Como se llama?" for example.

Is this a completely different use of the word se, or am I missing something?

Thanks.

Answer 1

However, I'm a little confused because I'm seeing and hearing se in a lot of other situations. "¿Como se llama?" for example.

Is this a completely different use of the word se, or am I missing something?

It is completely different. The word "se" in Spanish can be lots of different things. In the case of "se llama", it is not reflexive, since you can also say:

Este pueblo se llama Jalisco

and the village is not calling itself "Jalisco". It is easier to simply assume that "llamarse X" means "to have X as a name", or something different. Spanish and many other languages have a verb for this (eg. German, Chinese,...), but English does not have a one where you can say "I **** lazarus1907"; you have to say "My name is lazarus1907", or something like that. This makes it hard to translate a verb like "llamarse".

As samdie said, do a search on previous posts on the uses of "se". Try the key word "pronominal" in your search.

Answer 2

I'm at about the same place in my Spanish education (I'm on lesson 2.4) and I've just noticed lately (and complained loudly to friends) that "se" can mean too darn many things.

At least that's the way it seems to me! I sort of hate that word.

It's now almost 2 years later and I am having the same hate relationship with "se!" - territurtle, May 17, 2011

Answer 3

The drop-down menu associated with "MORE" (top of this page) has an entry for "Reference" within page three of the reference you will find four articles which discuss some of the uses of "se" (Reflexive, Reciprocal, Passive and Impersonal).

Answer 4

It is reflexive part of the verb and I believe it refers to oneself.

él se llama - his name is (he calls himself)

Answer 5

Okay, so what is the rule for the se that is in "¿Como se llama?"

The se in ¿Cómo se llama? could be referring to él, ella, usted, lo or la (it). The reflexive rule is exactly the same as with everything else. - Nathaniel, Aug 10, 2009

Answer 6

Thanks, I'll review reflexive verbs.

Answer 7

Completely different. The le, indirect object, becomes se in front of the direct object lo hence le lo becomes se lo. In como se llama, you have a reflexive verb, llamarse, nothing to do with direct and indirect objects.