Imperfect subjunctive using Se endings
A simple question probably best answered by a native hispanohablante.
Lately, I have been reading a lot of juvenile series chapter books in Spanish. The last two that I have read were translated by Spaniards. To give you an idea of the level of the books the series were Una serie de catastroficas desdichas (you may know the series from the movie made about it starring Jim Carey) and Alfred Hitchcock y los tres investagadores. Both of these book series were clearly written for preteen audiences.
After a discussion in our forum concerning the use of the imperfect subjunctive using the se ending, I starting paying particular attention to its usage. I would say that I frequently encounter it in these books translated by translators from Spain. As in the discussion here and in articles that I had read previously it states that this form is usually used in formal prose, poetry, etc. I think I may have misunderstood what was meant by formal writing. In this context, is formal writing referring to writing that is suitable for print (it has been proofread and edited) or are we talking about formal writing like in a journal to be submitted to Scientific American or the AMA for publishing (that was my previous understanding of formal writing)? Is the se form of the imperfect subjunctive common in less esoteric publications?
Also a note about vosotros (informal 2nd personal plural). In the Una serie de catastroficas desdichas series the protagonists are 3 orphaned, young children. They are always together so in most of the book's dialog they are addressed using the plural, informal, person. Regarding the discussions that we have had about the relevance of learning the vosotros form of the verb, all I can say is, reading a book series like this one would leave you completely overwhelmed if you were ignorant of its usage. (I must be getting used to it, because until now, I hadn't realized the same situation exists in the series with the 3 investigators. They are preteen, and always together so they are also always being addressed with the vosotros person of the verb.
Please let me know about the meaning of the connotation concerning formal writings. Thank you.
4 Answers
According to the 22 Academies of Spanish (19 of them from Latin America), in Latin America both the -ra and -se forms are used, although their records indicate a clear preference for the -ra form. However, the -se form is widely used in Latin America, especially in literature. The -se forms are seen in some Latin American countries as too posh or even affected in daily speech, and some people with medium or low cultural background use the -se forms with pretension.
In Spain both forms are used in literary Spanish, with the -ra form used slightly more than the -se one. Over there, none of the forms sound posher or more formal than the other, and the -ra one is also used more often than the other.
So, the form -se is used everywhere, but in spoken Spanish it is either less used than the -ra one, or practically not used. In literary Spanish everywhere, this -se form appears more frequently than in spoken Spanish, often being used as frequently as -ra, without any special connotation or difference in use of any kind.
I would like to mention, for those who don't know, that the -se form was originally the only subjunctive form (directly taken from Latin); the -ra form is relatively recent in comparison.
Yesterday one of my teachers mentioned that the -se endings are used a lot in poetry because they sound "softer" and flow well. I saw an interesting example today where both endings were used in the same sentence: "Si hubiera aprendido italiano, hubiese entendido mejor la película." It is used here just to avoid repetition.
Very interesting topic.
I am not a first-generation Spaniard, but I can tell you that in Puerto Rico at least, the use of "comiese", "tomase", "bebiese" et al. is very rare and is usually found in creative literature. (Puertorican Spanish teachers at the college level tend to prefer it also) That being said, I use it in my daily speech -probably having to do with being raised by a grandmother who was a-from Spain and b-a teacher of Castellano- and even though most people on the island use the "ra" ending, they have no problem understanding when "se" is used. (Of note: lots of people in PR tend to mix up the conditional form "comería" with "comiera/comiese")
What I've always understood as 'formal writing' as far as hispanohablantes go is both things you named: writing that is meant for peer-reviewed journals, and writing for publishing.
Shoot, I hope my rambling helped you somewhat 
To me formal writing means anything for publication as opposed to casual correspondence between family and friends. They use the se form in newspapers, for example. That said, stuff written for entertainment tends to be much different than that written for education or puffed up posturing.
