How do you translate: "no se te olviden las margaritas o tequila" ?
I'm having trouble with a literal translation versus an idiomatic, which may mak more sense.
9 Answers
Quote by cheesyum My guess is "Don't forget the tequilla or margeritas". Actually this is wrong, nevermind.
Quote by Abogado11 I think your answer was pretty close, except "olviden" is third person plural, or so I thought. . . .
I think "se" here is a Passive Se. I'm not that great with the pronouns yet, but that makes this make sense to me.
So then that makes Cheesyum's sentence correct.
Somebody please show us where we're wrong. 
The literal translation would be "don't forget the margaritas or tequila". What is the idiomatic meaning? Don't forget in an idiom the words go together to create a meaning different from what they would mean if translated literally. If you chose to translate word for word and came up with "the margaritas or tequila are not forgotten by you" there is still no change in meaning, so I don't know if technically it is an idiom.
I remember from High School " se me olvido mi cuaderno". I will always remember this. It my belief that se means "to you" or in the case of the note book, "profesora". So I believe the question is: Did they not remember your tequila and margaritas? or, They have not forgotten your tequila and margaritas! , as a statement. ¡Se me olvido mucho pero me cuaderno es dercho! Juan20112
Well I may have gotten subject and do/io switched, but it is still correct. Se doesn't have a literal translation, its simply to let you know its passive or accidental. That's why its followed by a pronoun. The "te" cannot be ignored, its actually very important. If its a sign using se and no pronoun, that's different, but that is not the case.
In your example, "Se me olvido mi cuarderno", literaly you are saying "The notebook is forgotten by me." You'd translate it, however, as "I forgot the notebook", cause you can't forget something on purpose. Its an accident or unplanned occurance. And olvido is referreing to the notebook, not you, you is refferred to by "me". Its like the do is doing the action instead of the subject in such contructions. Kinda similar to gustar and its kind (importar, faltar, etc).
I think "olviden" is "they forgot", which is why I later thought my answer was incorrect - cheeseisyumm
Actually when using se, the verb that follows matches the subject, not who is speaking. Who is speaking is matched by the pronoun that follows "se" and is right before the verb.
Since two subjects are mentioned, "margaritas" and "tequila", a third person plural conjugation is used.
My guess is "Don't forget the tequilla or margeritas".
Actually this is wrong, nevermind.
cause you can't forget something on purpose. Its an accident or unplanned occurance.
Whether you agree with his analysis or not, it has certainly been influential. Freud would have said that you never forget something by accident, it is always a question of suppressing memories (consciously or not).
I remember from High School " se me olvido mi cuaderno". I will always remember this. It my belief that se means "to you" or in the case of the note book, "profesora". So I believe the question is: Did they not remember your tequila and margaritas? or, They have not forgotten your tequila and margaritas! , as a statement. ¡Se me olvido mucho pero me cuaderno es dercho!
Here's a link with some input from lazarus on a similar question:
I think your answer was pretty close, except "olviden" is third person plural, or so I thought. . . .
