Direct/ Indirect Object pronouns

Question

I asked a question yesterday about how to say 'I dropped the ball' (often)...anyway i was told the translation could be 'se me caía el balón' I really don't understand why there is a 'se' and a 'me'...Because I thought 'me' would be functioning as the direct object in the sentence & 'se' the indirect object...but I don't understand why it needs them!! So...'caía' =I dropped el balon= the ball....therefore why can't I just say 'Caía el balon' what is the need for the 'se' and the 'me'? Can someone help me please I am so confused and please explain it as simply as possible!!

Answer 1

I have a special affection for this confusing construction because it sort of distances me from the blame! (Noooo, I didn't drop the ball--it just fell out of my hands!)

Answer 2

You might find this article helpful in your future encounters with SE (which can also appear as ME or TE or NOS, in certain circumstances).

Answer 3

If the ball were to hit the ground, then the ground would become the direct object and "se" no longer necessary, ie: "El balón lo pegó al piso."

The ground, "piso", is the indirect object in that sentence. The ball, "balón", could either be the subject which stuck something to the floor (which is pretty unlikely), or the direct object--since it precedes the verb, the direct object pronoun is also required--and someone stuck it to the floor.

In the sense of "to hit", pegar is intransitive:

El balón pegó en el piso.

Answer 4

This is an event that started and finished, so it should be "Se me cayó el balón."

"Me" is the indirect object because the ball fell from me (my hands). There isn´t a direct object here because the ball´s action is not directed at anything. In effect, it´s falling on it´s own accord (by itself), which is why "se" is necessary.

If the ball were to hit the ground, then the ground would become the direct object and "se" no longer necessary, ie: "El balón lo pegó al piso."

Answer 5

This is a Spanish quirk that is used with unexpected, negative events. The "se me" makes it seem like the ball, not your own mistake, is causing itself to fall. It's almost like saying the ball is fell on its own.

Answer 6

I share your frustration because this really confused me at first - especially when trying to make grammatical sense of the different pronouns. Looking at the other answers, it seems even advanced students dont always get it right!

Anyway, Paralee's lesson 3.12 is excellent. This should give you more understanding of what 'se' is doing in these circumstances. I've tried to put a link to it below, but im not very good at this sort of thing so dont know whether it will work lol.

Good luck !

link text

Answer 7

Thank you everyone for your contrubutions, all your answers have been really helpful made a lot more sense now!! xx

Answer 8

Ok thanks..so what does 'se me caía' translate to literally? (word for word) would it be 'I dropped me to it'? Sorry I'm so confused :(

Se me caía = itself me dropped (The ball dropped itself on me)...here I use "on me" with the same meaning like when we say "this watch broke on me yesterday" ... so not that the ball hit me in the head but that its act of dropping happened while I had it. - webdunce, May 6, 2011

It's also possible that SE in this sentence has no translation. Prepare to be confounded to no end by SE. Basically, without the SE, one wonders what the ball dropped (maybe the ball dropped a coin). With the SE, one realizes the ball simply dropped. - webdunce, May 6, 2011