Answer in the "no-fault se construction" form please
no-fault se construction?
3 Answers
The "no fault se" is not an indirect object!. [Referring to Kiwi-Girl's post] The website that Kiwi-Girl is linking to is webs.com, not a legitimate website. You and I can make a Spanish website on webs.com for free whether its right or wrong.
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The "no fault se" is reflexive! For example: "Se cierra la puerta". Literally, you're saying "The door closed itself" or loosely translated as "The door is closed". You add an indirect object to state that someone is merely a bystander. For example: "A mí se me cierra la puerta" It's still saying "The door closed itself" but you also know that "I" was a witness to it, implying that I closed the door without me stating that I was the culprit.
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Indirect Objects always (for the most part) have an "a" + "object or noun" then has the indirect object pronoun "me, te, le, nos, os, les". In this case "A mí" is my indirect object and "me" is my indirect object pronoun.
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One more example! "Se rompió la escultura" Literally, "The sculpture broke itself". There's no indirect object, so no one was a bystander.
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Scenario: A mother talking to her 10 year old twin boys.
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Mom: Quien rompió los vasos?
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Her two sons: A nosotros se nos rompieron los vasos.
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The mom is saying "Who broke the vases" and the twins who know if they tell their mom that they broke them. Surely, they will get into trouble, so they say "The vases broke themselves" and they were just bystanders. The subject is "los vasos" which is plural so "rompieron" is changed to third person plural to match. "Se" is reflective and it matches "rompieron". "A nosotros" is the indirect object so *"nos**"*, the indirect object pronoun has to match *"A nosotros".*
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There you have it! Kid Machi Pichu Out!
Source: Spanish Minor!
You might find this lesson helpful.
Here's an excerpt based on information sourced on the net and in Spanish Grammar books....
8 ) The 'no fault' or as I like to call it - the 'I didn't do it' 'se'
This construction is used for accidents or unexpected events and is useful for not putting the blame on anyone in particular.
The 'se' in these kind of sentences is NOT an indirect object pronoun which refers to the person(s) involved (usually as an innocent victim) and the verb which is in the third person and agrees with the recipient. SEE KID MACHI PICCHU'S EXCELLENT POST BELOW
A Pablo se le perdió el libro. Instead of saying - Paul lost his book, this construction says: Paul's book got lost.
Very handy if you don't want to take the blame when you've had an accident:
Se me perdieron las llaves. The keys got lost. (I lost the keys)
Se nos cayeron los vasos. The glasses fell. (We dropped the glasses.)
Se me rompió el plato. The plate broke. (I broke the plate.)
¿Se te ha acabado el dinero? Has your money run out? (Have you run out of money?)
no-fault se construction?
