"Se me va el tren"

Question

Hi all,

Is there anyone that can explain the grammar of the phrase to me? I am told it more or less means "I'm about to miss the train", but I can't really understand it because I can't figure out the significance of "se" and how exactly this phrase works on a literal level... help!

Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

We have discussed the difference between ir and irse many times here on this site.

Ir=to go to some destination

irse=shows movement, leaving some place

The indirect object in this type of sentence shows who is receiving the action of the verb.

The sentence merely says that the train is leaving me. (estar para salir)

to use María's example:

Se perdireon las llaves. The keys were lost.

Se me perdieron las llaves. My keys were lost. The i.o.p. shows ownership or the receiver of the verb's action. (The keys were lost to me.) Shifting of blame: I lost my keys to my keys were lost. Shifts the blame from me to the keys. This is called no fault or accidental se. See examples in article below.

accidental se...last category

interesting...no fault se...I had never hear of that before, in Spanish? - 00494d19, Jul 27, 2010

Good stuff Q - sanlee, Jul 27, 2010

Q, thanks, but this cannot be irse, because that is a different verb completely, I have done some other research and confirmed it is no-fault se (or "accidental" as it is called on that link). - aceydoubleyou, Jul 27, 2010

Answer 2

Se va al tren . The train is leaving. (irse)

Se me va el tren. I am missing the train. If I don't run, I will miss it.

First sentence is simply stating the train is leaving. SEcond is stating that you will miss the train. If you do not use the personal pronoun, this would not be implied.

Answer 3

Kakalero's answer is really not too bad but as a little extra help, perhaps it could be explained as se being used here as a passive voice.

By using se, particularly when discussing inanimate objects, it is possible to indicate some sort of action without indicating who performed the action.

For example:

Se perdieron los llaves. (The keys were lost.)

or as in your example - as K said - the inanimate object - the train is going (on) me

Hope that helps a little

Do you mean no fault construction? - aceydoubleyou, Jul 26, 2010

Thanks! - aceydoubleyou, Jul 26, 2010

Answer 4

"Se" reference something, in this phrase is the train. For exemple if you see the train and you think only "Se me va", "se" reference the train, if you see a car "se" is the car.

...and how exactly is it doing that? I understand it is a pronoun, I am asking about the grammar of the phrase - aceydoubleyou, Jul 26, 2010

Only "me va el tren" is my train runs, but not i'm miss the train. - kawalero, Jul 26, 2010

Thanks for your help with this! - aceydoubleyou, Jul 26, 2010

Se me va-> reference something is for me is going - kawalero, Jul 26, 2010

Exemple Marie-Claire, Se perdieron...->something are for us(or have relation with us) is lost. - kawalero, Jul 26, 2010

Ah ok, I see the usage their, thanks! - aceydoubleyou, Jul 26, 2010

Answer 5

The best "non literal" translation into English would be, "The train is leaving on me."

Similar to "El caballo se me murió" -- "The horse died on me." After hearing those translations, the phrase made a lot more sense to me.

Answer 6

Can anyone tell me if this is an example of no-fault construction using se?

Thanks to both the answers above, too, I didn't mean to imply either were insufficient! - aceydoubleyou, Jul 26, 2010