Why it's se produjo?

Question

Anteayer Luis y Ana tenían que reunirse con algunos amigos.Sacaron el coche del garaje y se pusieron en camino.A los pocos metros se produjo un terrible atasco.

Answer 1

Anteayer Luis y Ana tenían que reunirse con algunos amigos.Sacaron el coche del garaje y se pusieron en camino.A los pocos metros se produjo un terrible atasco.

Here, we see that Luis and Ana encounter a traffic jam a few meters from the starting point of their journey. Normally, the verb "producir" is transitive meaning. Therefore, in an active construction, the thing being produced must have some agent acting to produce it. Namely, somebody or something had to have acted to produce or cause the traffic jam.

Realistically, however, we don't generally say anything like, "We were driving along and a bunch of other cars and I produced a traffic jam" or "The other cars and I made a traffic jam occur (i.e. all of the cars on the road are acting as agents to produce the traffic jam)." Instead, we would usually just note that there happened to be a traffic jam that sprung up. We do this by employing a passive construction in order to avoid implicating the agent.

For example: "After a few meters, a terrible traffic jam took place," or more literally, "After a few meters a terrible traffic jam was produced (by the other drivers and I)."

Excellent answer, Izan - cogumela, Jan 4, 2012

Answer 2

So, se here means passive?

Answer 3

So, se here means passive?

That's how I would probably interpret it.

Chambers Harper's dictionary (used on SpanishDict) refers to such usage as "pronominal."

Velazquez's Dictionary (also used on SpanishDict) refers to such usage as "reflexive."

The DRAE does not mention a special pronominal usage, but does suggest a transitive usage to mean "procurar, originar, ocasionar, engendrar, procrear, and criar."

Based on the DRAE version, I would suggest that this particular construction could, perhaps, be best characterized as a passive construction.

Answer 4

So, se here means passive?

Hi Melissa:

Se here means exactly what Izanoni pointed in his first post. You have been given an excellent answer, that I think everybody can understand, and not many people are able to explain. Iza's answer tells you exactly the meaning of that se, its function, and its sense.

If, still, you need to label that "se" as passive, impersonal, reflexive or whatsoever, for your understanding... that's ok, curiosity is a good thing. However, I would like to see more appreciation on your part towards the good answers you receive, those which focuse on a good understanding of the language, because they may be very useful for everyone in this community.

Concerning to your grammar points, just bear in mind that, normally, Spanish natives are not aware of these grammatical nuances (that in the case of se are particularly confusing even between grammars) so they are not going to help too much to speak or to understand Spanish. Anyway, if it serves to calm your curiosity, Izanoni's second post gave you the correct answer too.