Is the third person singular reflexive used as speaking in general?

Question

I figured that it has to be a post about this already, but I honestly didn't know what to search for.

In English it's more common to say "How do I do that?" "Can you eat it?" rather than "How can one do that? "Can one eat that?"

But is it possible to say "Se puede hacerlo"? "Se puede comerlo" with the third person singular reflexive in Spanish?

Thank you!

As a non-native speaker I would be comfortable saying those sentences. You can check the "grammar" section and look through the '"verb" categories. - Jubilado, Jan 8, 2015

You have good answers here, just note that these types of sentences are not reflexive - 005faa61, Jan 8, 2015

Answer 1

Se puede hacer = it can be done

Se puede comer = it can be eaten

There is no mention of who can do it/eat it, just that it can be done/eaten.

I think that the grammatical term is 'passive'. However, there is often a great deal of discussion/disagreement between what is actually termed as 'passive' or 'impersonal' when we talk about se in the 3rd person singular.

(ps. I don't think you need the 'lo' in your sentences)

I see. But if I don't need the "lo" in "Can one eat it", does the "se" refer to the thing that is eaten? - Toreboy, Jan 8, 2015

Hi mate. Can one eat it? and Can it be eaten? Effectively say the same thing, I think. The se just makes this construction passive - so we are not specifying who is doing the eating. Hopefully somebody else with more grammar knowledge than me will come - billygoat, Jan 8, 2015

along and give you a fuller explanation. - billygoat, Jan 8, 2015

Answer 2

Yes.

it is very common.

¿Se puede entrar?-- ( can one come in? )

¿ Se puede? is very common, you will hear it a lot , it means Can I, may I.. do whatever it is.

Thanks! - Jubilado, Jan 8, 2015