Se me va la vida

Question

Ok there is a series of Se/te/me pronoun constructions that I am not getting the basis of so I need to ask this I'm afraid.

Let's use IR to do this.

Voy a casa. I'm going home. IR. Ya me voy. I'm leaving already. IRSE. Me voy a la tienda. I am going to the store. IRSE. Se me va la vida. **?? IRSE. assumed: no idea. Se me va la voz. **?? IRSE. assumed: no idea.

As you can see I am having trouble with this Se me, Se te construction.

Ex. Se nota - One notices. Se me nota - I notice. Se te nota - You notice.

Why is this construction formulated as such? Se ME. Se TE and not Me noto, Te notas if it's gonna be pronomial? Gracias.

Answer 1

So, se me va la vida would be translated to "The life is leaving me" or "The life is passing by"?

"Life is leaving me" as in dying. And "Life is passing me by" as in wasting ones time during life. - 005faa61, Jan 21, 2010

Answer 2

Jeez, by the way, Moe wrote an excellent article about the ir or irse problem, triggered by your question .

Answer 3

Well, technically, it can mean both

Answer 4

We have many good previous threads here explaining the difference in meaning between the non-pronominal (ir) and pronominal (irse) use of ir.

ir is used for going to a destination.

irse is used for leaving a location.

Voy a la tienda. I'm going to the store.

Me voy a la tienda. (I'm leaving here to go to the store. I'm headed out the door to go to the store).

Se me va la voz. I'm losing my voice. (My voice is leaving me).

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Se me nota, not me noto

Not a native so this is only a SWAG, but I would guess that it somehow involves an intransitive, pronominal verb rather that a transitive, pronominal verb. That would explain the 3rd person rather than 1st. (why gustar is usually gusta , not gusto). I'll wait for a native's explanation.

I take it this wasn't explained in the other thread on the 3 pronoun verb : te se me nota. Just to mention it, Spanish never (or very rarely) uses all three (reflexive, dative, accusative) pronouns at the same time. They have constructions like the one that you are inquiring about to avoid it.

I posted a link to this old thread in your other discussion. For others, I will post the link here. Read Lazarus explanation of this passive/intransitive construction.

[Se me olvidó la carta][1]

[1]: Sentence Construction using the

By the way. Don't read my reply on that thread. I tried to write a satirical, joking reply and it was taken seriously. I've since learned never to do that on this forum because I have seen several people get burned when the humor wasn't recognized.