Sentence Breakdown

Question

Ya se lo mandé a tu hermano

Already I sent it to your brother...?

Ya=already

Se=The person talking referring to himself

Lo= It

Mandé= Mandar conjugated to 1st person subjunctive ( referring that he sent it)

A tu hermano= to my brother.

Is it necessary to have se in this sentence?

"Se=The person talking referring to himself" No, "se" represents the brother. - --Mariana--, Mar 15, 2012

Answer 1

In your example, "Se" is the person receiving the direct object "lo" (whatever "lo" is). "Se" would be the indirect object. Oftentimes, the indirect object (for 3rd-person) is shown as "Le", but there is a rule that when you have a 3rd-person direct object pronoun (i.e., lo, la, los, las) directly following the 3rd-person indirect pronoun, the "Le"/"Les" turns into "Se"; it makes the pronunciation easier ("Le lo" vs. "Se lo"). And who knows? There might be another reason for this, but I'm don't know all the ins and outs.

Here's an example to help you better understand:

• Julia sent a letter to my brother, Marco.
• Julia le envió una carta a mi hermano Marco.
• Here, our direct object is the letter "una carta" and our indirect object is Marco. The "le" has to be there (in all cases with indirect objects, a indirect pronoun is needed), but "a mi hermano" doesn't - it's just for clarity and/or preference.

To simplify the sentence, we could replace the direct object "una carta" with "la", the appropriate direct object pronoun. Let's remove "a mi hermano Marco" as well. The sentence would then be:

• Julia le la envió. Wait! We must change that "le" to "se". So now it's:
• Julia se la envió.
• Julia sent it to him.

Note: "Le la envió" would be flat out wrong.

Mis amigos spanishdiccientes, por favor corríjanme si encontran algunos errores. Ya debieran haber sabido que yo acoja favorablemente las correcciones. Me ayudan mejorar. I may be a bit rusty.

:red: No me di cuenta de que todas estas respuestas habían publicado(?) mientras que todavía estaba escribiendo, lol. - Goldie_Miel, Mar 15, 2012

Very insightful, thanks. - Lane012, Mar 15, 2012

Sure :) I'm glad you found it helpful. - Goldie_Miel, Mar 15, 2012

Answer 2

There's no subjunctive here, you're missing the accent on "mandar," and yes you need the redundant "se."

Ya se lo mandé a tu hermano.

Article about ID and DO pronouns.

What is the point of the redundant 'se'. Is there anything similar to this in english? I'm having difficulty understanding all the 'se' in Spanish! - i_am_a_white_guy, Mar 15, 2012

Yeah, it's a tough one. Look at the link that I posted in my edited answer. - --Mariana--, Mar 15, 2012

Answer 3

The "se" in your sentence is an indirect object referring to "a tu hermano".

The "lo" in your sentence is a direct object referring to what was sent.

So: se lo mandé = I sent it to him.

The "a tu hermano" is the part that may not be needed it the context of the conversation makes it clear who the "se" refers to.

Answer 4

I second Mariana and I want to add something. In any language there are several expressions that you cannot translate word by word and expect come up with the same exact meaning.

• Even though "es" sounds kind of redundant, it is not quite so! Click on the following link for more detailed explanation. The use of "se" in Spanish