Please help me understand why this Spanish sentence is constructed this way- Thanks !

Question

Imponer - Word of the Day example

Se le impondrá una multa sobre cualquiera que se estacione en un carril de bicicletas. English-A fine will be imposed upon anyone who parks in a bike lane.

Se le impondrá una multa sobre -- Why do we have direct and indirect objects here. I know the basic idea of this concept in simple sentences; but this i don't understand why it is constructed this way.

What is Se represent - Anyone and Le - the fine ? but the fine and anyone is explicitly stated in the sentence. Please help.

Thanks !

Welcome! and thanks for the information in your profile. If you participate in the future, it would be helpful for us to know your gender and country of residence. Thanks for a well written post. - Jubilado, Mar 4, 2016

Looking into my crystal ball, I would guess "male" and from India. I hope my crystal ball is working this morning. - Daniela2041, Mar 4, 2016

Thanks for answering. Your crystal ball is wrong sorry about that. :). I am from Los angeles CA - bkzingh, Mar 4, 2016

I am going to read the "Impersonal se vs. passive se" today on our grammar section. I never used Se used in this way. Thanks ! - bkzingh, Mar 4, 2016

Well, I got it half right. I'm taking my crystal ball in for repairs. :) - Daniela2041, Mar 4, 2016

Dani , anyone from India would not spell the name with a Z but an S. And possibly ,V J Singh ? - ray76, Mar 5, 2016

Answer 1

Imponer in this usage means "impose"

It is used as imponerse to give the passive sense of "will be imposed".

The pronoun le refers to "cualquiera" and is something that Spanish does although it seems redundant to English speakers.

Others will answer and clarify further in case I am mistaken about se in this sentence.

That is how I would interpret it as well. :) - bosquederoble, Mar 4, 2016

Bosquederoble, I feel much more confident about it now. Thanks! - Jubilado, Mar 4, 2016

I just added my two centavos' worth. :) - Daniela2041, Mar 4, 2016

Answer 2

Se le impondrá una multa sobre cualquiera .....

Jubilado is correct in that se here is passive voice and that le refers to cualquiera, but le isn´t necessary. We can say this phrase without le and it is still grammatically correct because the the indirect object "cualquiera" appears after the verb. We like redundancy most of the time, so we choose to say it this way, we´re used to it.

However, when the indirect object appears before the verb, then the pronoun (in this case "le") is absolutely necessary, ie: Sobre cualquiera, se le impondrá una multa ....

Thanks for that distinction. - Jubilado, Mar 5, 2016

Answer 3

I don't know grammar, but I know this much:

Se impondrá impuesto = Taxes will be imposed

Se le/te impondrá impuesto = Taxes will be imposed to you (formal/informal)

Nothing to do with yourself or itself etc...

Now the passive, as I understand it...

in Spanish people try to avoid that form where:

Spanish is spoken, here = Castellano es hablado, aquí, which can be ambiguous and it is preferred today to say "Aquí se habla castellano"

But if you provided enough context, that form is correct and still in force.

Gracias Chileno, this makes good sense to me. - 00cc0117, Mar 4, 2016

Nice description of the grammar. ;) - bosquederoble, Mar 4, 2016

Answer 4

Just to supplement Jubilado.

He says that "Se" gives the passive sense. Very true.

Aquí se habla español. Here Spanish is spoken. (literally Spanish speaks itself)

So, literally, A fine will "impose itself upon whosoever----etc. The "le" is the redundant "le" which I have just discussed in another thread.

link to "le" thread

I did not feel it necessary to repeat everything you said. You did it so well. ♥ - Daniela2041, Mar 4, 2016

Thanks for your other post once again. I copied it into a document to share with my co-learners here where I live and with whom I practice Spanish. - Jubilado, Mar 4, 2016