The Passive with Indirect Object Pronouns

Question

I have a hard time understanding sentences which use se les o se le(the passive and indirect objects/object pronouns) I will use a sentence to explain my dilemma:

El jefe no puede aceptar que los empleados lleguen a la hora que se les de la gana.

does "se les" come from changing "le/les les" to se les? I am used to and I understand se las, se los, se la, se lo e.t.c, I understand those but when it comes to se les or se le, then am stumped. Can anyone explain in detail how this se le/les comes about? and suggestions on materials to read online or otherwise to understand the subject are much appreciated. Thanks

Welcome to SpanishDict. It will help if you add your gender and Spanish proficiency to your profile. - rac1, Aug 16, 2015

Answer 1

In your sentence the se creates passive voice for the unmentioned agent "giving the gana" and the les is the indirect object of "los empleados".

This use of se should not be confused with the replacement of le when it would be two words of le together (le le changes to se le), ie: Voy a decírselo a ella - not Voy a decírlelo a ella.

What does "dar la gana" mean? And why is it subjunctive? - Jubilado, Aug 16, 2015

"Dar ganas/las ganas"... To inspire someone to do something. It´s subjunctive because "dar" and "llegar" here share the same effect of "aceptar" - 005faa61, Aug 17, 2015

Gracias por la lección, Julian. - Jubilado, Aug 17, 2015

Answer 2

Your example is not correct. You must say:

El jefe no puede aceptar que los empleados lleguen a la hora que les de la gana.

The use of "se" in your example is not necessary.

The sentences is correct, it is a line I took from a telenovela(which are scripted so it must be correct) - Lesamis, Aug 17, 2015

It is similar to this sentence: Los demandados no conocieron los cargos que se les imputaban durante el juicio - Lesamis, Aug 17, 2015

Lesamis, scripted is no guarantee of correctness, I'm sorry to say, a lot of it is done by machines, say no more... - annierats, Aug 17, 2015

Thank you Tx! I was so wondering about the 'se' but as ' se' is so complicated, I just kept wondering. I would have thought that it is ' aceptar' that needs to be followed by the subjunctive? - annierats, Aug 17, 2015

Annierats I had it transcribed by a real person, a native speaker. Even listening to it myself, I can confirm that that is how it's said. - Lesamis, Aug 18, 2015

Answer 3

how about a sentence like: You will be given earplugs for the ears. will it be se le darán tapones para los oidos or se le dará tapones para llos oidos or se les darán tapones para los oidos or se les dará tapones para los oidos? how are these kinds of sentences formed?

It depends on the number of recipients and if you want to use passive voice (se) or impersonal conjugation of "ellos" without mention of the pronoun - 005faa61, Aug 17, 2015

Remember to use proper capitalization in your posts. This is required on SD. - rac1, Aug 17, 2015

Te darán tapones? You will be given earplugs? - annierats, Aug 17, 2015

I mean, it actually means that ' they will give yo' but it is used as ' you will be given. Or at least quite ioften , it will be.. - annierats, Aug 17, 2015