Pronouns and verbs

Question

In lesson 3.4, Paralee gives the sentence "Se puede usar Hace para el presente perfecto." I have also noticed these seemingly randomly placed pronouns in other texts that I have been reading.

My questions is this: Why did she put 'se' in front of puede?

I'm pretty sure that puede isn't reflexive. Is there something that I am missing here?

Muchos Gracias por tus consejos!

Welcome to the Q&A forum! - --Mariana--, Aug 2, 2012

Answer 1

This is an example of the "se impersonal". In this case, the se is acting as your subject in a sense. In this example "se puede" means "one can". The use of "one" isn't very common in English, but it's very common in Spanish.

That makes sense. Is it necessary to put the "se" before "puede", or would the sentence work without it? - BYUchica23, Aug 2, 2012

It depends. If you want to say "one can" then you must put the say. But you could also just use "puedes" and it means basically the same thing - kramer12, Aug 2, 2012

se* not say - kramer12, Aug 2, 2012

Excellent answer, Kramer. - --Mariana--, Aug 2, 2012

Answer 2

So, how can I know if I am supposed to translate a sentence as passive or impassive?

Here's a good explanation of the "impersonal se" and the use of the passive voice.

Thanks Mariana. That link helped a lot! - BYUchica23, Aug 6, 2012

Answer 3

So, how can I know if I am supposed to translate a sentence as passive or impassive?

The best way is to try to rewrite the sentences using the other form of the passive voice, "ser + past participle". If you can do it, then the sentence is a se pasivo. There are some high level exceptions, but nothing to worry about now.

here's some examples: "se usan las computadoras" - "las computadoras son usadas". This sentence works, so it is a se pasivo.

Remember that this form of the passive voice and the "se pasivo" must have a direct object. This can tell you that sentences like "se habla español are impersonal, because there is no direct object and thus impossible to rewrite with se + past participle

And the impersonal is always singular, so anytime you see something like "se usan", it's passive - kramer12, Aug 2, 2012

Answer 4

Se puede usar hacer para el presente perfecto."

can translate to

It can be used for the present perfect.

and this is passive - is it not?

Yes. - --Mariana--, Aug 2, 2012

Answer 5

So, how can I know if I am supposed to translate a sentence as passive or impassive?

In English it is simple but I am not a native Spanish speaker - sorry :) - ian-hill, Aug 2, 2012

Answer 6

"Se puede usar Hace para el presente perfecto."

The idea that "se" in this phrase makes it impersonal is correct, however it does not translate to English as "One can use ..............." because this is still active voice, with the subject being "one."

The translation for passive voice should be "Hace can be used for the present perfect." In this construction, the person or thing doing the action is removed from the sentence. However when we talk about verbs in Spanish, we always use the infinitive, ie: "Se puede usar Hacer ........"

Muchos Gracias por tus conejos!

I am sure you mean "consejos" here, unless you really do mean to thank someone for the rabbits.

Oh! Thank you for catching that error! I have fixed it. - BYUchica23, Aug 2, 2012

And the sentence came from the video. I wonder if she put it that way to help reduce confusion or something... Thank you though, I now know that I should use the infinitive form of the verb when I talk about verbs. - BYUchica23, Aug 2, 2012