Is this reflexive or ????

Question

I am listening to a podcast and have a question about a sentence:

¿Qué habrían comido en el restaurante si el pescado se hubiera acabado?

What would you have eaten in the restaurant if the fish was sold out?

My question is: Why "se"? Is it making the verb phrase reflexive? I don't have a transcript, but I'm pretty sure that is what is being said.

Thanks for any potential help.

Answer 1

Hi carcar,

Yes. In this case, "se huberia acabado" is a use of acabarse in the reflexive sense.

Acabarse translation

As you can see in the link above, acabarse means "To finish, to stop, to come to an end (terminar); to die (morir), to run out."

So in the sentence you quoted,

¿Qué habrían comido en el restaurante si el pescado se hubiera acabado?

"se huberia acabado" means "had run out"

What would you (plural) have eaten at the restaurant if the fish had run out?

I hope that helps!

Answer 2

Thank you eiberri, I see that the translation is "to run out" but I'm still a little confused why this isn't an Unexpected Impersonal "se," isn't it more of an unexpected event rather than reflexive translation?

Thanks for your help.

Hi carcar, it seems like this would fit under the use of "se" as part of an unexpected occurence, but the sentence doesn't imply or mean an unexpected occurence, only because it's using "if." - eiberri, Jul 24, 2013

Although if I've misinterpreted the whole scenario, I'd love to learn the true explanation from someone with more knowledge. - eiberri, Jul 24, 2013

Thanks, eiberri. I appreciate your help. I think you're probably right about it being reflexive. - carcar, Jul 25, 2013

Answer 3

Ummmm i dont know why cause im still new :D