What's the meaning of "se pide a"?

Question

I read a sentence today--"Se pide a los invitados que confirmen su asistencia."

I am not familiar with the usage and the meaning of "se pide a" or "se pide", could you tell me?

The translation I got from online-translator is "We ask guests to confirm their attendance." but I don't think that is what it literally means. I need more explanation.

it's exactly the same as your other ' se' questions.'' It's asked of the guests'', but in English we say, ' We ask that the guests.., or RSVP) - annierats, Dec 22, 2013

Answer 1

I think it is along the same lines as "se habla español" meaning "We speak Spanish" but I believe it literally means "Spanish is spoken". In your example "se pide a los invitados" means "the guests are asked to blah blah" but it sounds more natural in English to say "we ask the guests".

My understanding of the bigger picture is that se + singular you verb = passive voice. The "a" is just there because the thing that is receiving the action of the verb is a person or persons.

I hope this helps. If this is horribly wrong somehow, someone please say something!

Hola, AcercaCielo! Thanks for your answer. It helps, but the formula of passive voice seems to be "se + 3rd person(singular/plural)" which I found here--http://www.spanishdict.com/topics/show/88. - joygogo, Dec 22, 2013

But aren't those the same? Usted and él/ella verb conjugations, I mean. - AcercaCielo, Dec 22, 2013

Answer 2

"Se pide a los invitados que confirmen su asistencia." signfica lo mismo que "RSVP" es la abreviatura de répondez s'il vous plaît, una expresión francesa, que traducida al español significa "responda, por favor". Se utiliza generalmente para invitaciones a grandes eventos, para poder confirmar la presencia de los invitados y obtener una mejor organización.

Hola, KVML. Thanks for your reply. If possible, please answer in English or in both. My Spanish is not good enough to read it, let alone French. By the way, I don't understand the sentence which begins with "Se la utiliza generalmente..." - joygogo, Dec 22, 2013

Why is "se" placed at the beginning? What does it mean here? - joygogo, Dec 22, 2013

Good answer. - annierats, Dec 22, 2013

Answer 3

It is asked to the guests to confirm their attendance.

Read this I think it'll help you

Hola, Julii! Thanks! The article really helps! At first, I couldn't tell which "se" it is--impersonal, passive or reflexive. - joygogo, Dec 22, 2013