Ella se/le cajó en el teatro - Quick reflexive verb question

Question

I thought that "le" was the reflexive pronoun for "ella" but my book gives "Ella se cayó en el teatro." as the right answer.

I remember that le + something (I forget what) turns into se when they are together in a sentence.. don't know if that's what happened here.

Thanks for your help.

Answer 1

Le is an indirect object pronoun (3rd person, singular). It is not a reflexive pronoun.

Se is the 3rd person, singular reflexive pronoun [or sí if the object of a preposition, but forget that]

When you have a 3rd person i.o.p adjacent to a 3rd person d.o.p. (les lo, le la, etc.) the i.o.p. changes to se. That se is an object pronoun, not a reflexive pronoun.

In your sentence you are using the verb caer pronominally (caerse). In this pronominal usage it is also reflexive (the verb object reflects back on to the verb subject). That is why you use the reflexive pronoun se, not the object pronoun se.

Ah ha! Thanks :) - rabbitwho, Mar 20, 2011