what if I don't use "se" in this sentence?

Question

The sentence is this. ¿Se come bien en España? What does the "se" in this sentence refer to? If I say ¿Come bien en España? what will be the difference? I though maybe se belongs to comer as if it's reflexive (comerse) but there is no such word. What do you say about this?

Answer 1

¿Se come bien en España? What does the "se" in this sentence refer to?

Does "one" eat well in Spain? (Is there good food in Spain?)

¿Come bien en España?

Does he/she/it/you (formal) eat well in Spain?

I think this is "impersonal se" eg.

¿Cómo se dice? (how does "one" say it? = How is it said?)

Don't take my word for it though - I'm not a native speaker

Answer 2

Comerse is to eat up, but here "se come" means "they eat / one eats".... ¿Se come bien en España? means "Do they eat well in Spain?" The se is necessary for that construction. I believe you could say "Comen bien en españa" to mean they eat, but that might refer to a more specific set of people.....if you wanted, but "se come" is more along the lines of "do they eat well"? (the people from Spain, do they eat well there?)

The say is necessary - the se is necessary. I agree. Comen would refer to a specific group of people. - KevinB, Oct 28, 2010

That's what I get for "se"ing it in my head and then writing it down. - jeezzle, Oct 28, 2010

Answer 3

Thanks people, it all makes sense now. I think it is used as impersonal here since the text is about Spain's eating style and so on. Also "comerse" can be the case gramatically but it doesn't hold up in the text. So thank you all.

Answer 4

I think patch is right. Se is not being used in a reflexive sense here. It's being used in the impersonal sense.

¿Se come bien en España? - Does one eat well in Spain?, i.e., is there good food, and plenty of it?

Kiwi Girl is also right in saying that comerse can mean "to eat up", but that's not the sense here.

Edit: And jeezzle's right. He's also a faster typist than I am.

Answer 5

Use of these reflexive-like expressions one of the keys to being fluent and sounding like a native. Notice them, learn them, and use them. ¿Te cae bien este consejo?

Answer 6

The sentence is this. ¿Se come bien en España? What does the "se" in this sentence refer to?

It doesn't refer to anyone in particular: people in general eat well in Spain. This sentence, literally speaking, has no grammatical subject (and this SE is called impersonal, if you want the proper jargon)

If I say ¿Come bien en España?

You are saying that HE or SHE eats well in Spain here, but who are you talking about exactly? Have you previously mentioned someone's name to contextualize? If you haven't, this sentence sounds very confusing, almost as bad as "Eats well in Spain".

I believe you could say "Comen bien en españa" to mean they eat, but that might refer to a more specific set of people

It will indeed. You can't say "Comen" unless you have previously mention what group of people you are talking about, because in your sentence, you are talking about a specific group of people, not in general.

Answer 7

It's my understanding that comer is to eat while comerse is to eat up, stressing the completeness of the action.

I ate and apple.

I ate it all up.