Is the indirect object pronoun needed here?

Question

I came across this sentence on a website called Duolingo (this is a website where you can practice languages in a game-like format):

¿Cuándo se fueron tus amigos a América?

The website translates this as: "When did your friends go to America?"

I can understand the use of "se" as a reflexive pronoun for the pronominal "irse". But shouldn't there be an indirect object pronoun "le" as in "se le fueron tus amigos a América" where the "le" refers to the indirect object "América"?

When I looked up "ir" in the Spanishdict dictionary, there is a very similar sentence: "se le fue un hijo a Alemania".

So what do you think? Should it be "se le fueron" instead of "se fueron"?

Answer 1

¿Cuándo se fueron tus amigos a América?

The difference between ir and irse is focus on going and focus on leaving. It is not truly reflexive, although that is a semantic argument.

¿Cuándo fueron tus amigos a América?

When did your friends go to Germany. To me the normal way of expressing this. At least if you knew they were going and just want to know when they went.

¿Cuándo se fueron tus amigos a América?

When did your friends leave for Germany- no focus on the destination- instead the act of leaving- as in I didn't know they were heading out, what a surprise, it's news to me that they left.

In this sentence:

se le fue un hijo a Alemania one of her sons went to Germany;

The le presumably refers to the woman previously mentioned in context, not either the hijo, nor Alemania.

A son left (on her) for Germany.

A son left her to go to Germany.

Again focus on the act of leaving- because he left her, he up and left on her.

Good answer, but I wonder if the second example might be: One of her (his) sons left for (went to) Germany. - Jubilado, Oct 18, 2014

I think the se even in that example (quoted directly from our dictionary) puts the focus on the act of leaving, not on the going to Germany. :) - bosquederoble, Oct 18, 2014

And I assume in the quoted example it was a woman, as the dictionary translation said her son. ;) - bosquederoble, Oct 18, 2014

Answer 2

Thanks, I'm getting it ... slowly.

So for "irse", the focus is on the act of leaving and not on the destination. So the indirect object if there is to be one (which seems optional) would be on the "victim", the person or place that has been "abandoned" or "left behind".

Would it therefore be correct to say "¿Cuándo se te fueron tus amigos....?" where the "te" refers to the "you" who got abandoned?

I also found a song title "Se te fueron las luces" which I guess translates as "The lights have left you" (although I have a hunch there is an idiomatic nuance behind this literal translation--perhaps it means you have gone crazy....)