Comment about "SE"
This is more of a comment but includes a question. I have been studying Spanish for more that 20 years but have little opportunity to practice it. I can function in a Spanish society (and have) but when things get fast and emotional I'm gone. "Se" is the most difficult word/subject in Spanish. I have talked to native Spanish professors, teachers, and just Spanish people. Absolutely no one can explain it satisfactorily for all of its uses. They generally get a goofy look on their face and say something like "that's just the way it is". I would pay good money to get a 100% accurate explanation that I can depend on in any situation. I continue to refuse to believe that it can be that hard. I welcome all replies.Oh. The question: Can anyone help me???????????????
3 Answers
The reason that they get a "goofy" look on their faces. is that, in spite of being Spanish speakers, they are not teachers. It took about five years of training and several years in the classroom before I got to where I could explain some of the complicated things about Spanish-like its humongous verb system and the small but highly complicated stuff like "se."
"Se" has many functions. I will just give a short résumé here.
(1) Reflexive constructions.
There are two kinds of these, where someone is doing something to him/her self like. "Eliza se maquilla" (Eliza puts -on herself- makeup) "María se cepilla el pelo" (María brushes herself the hair, or in standard English, Maria brushes her hair.) If you have been studying Spanish for 20 years, I think you are familiar with these.
(2) Reciprocal Reflexives. This is the "each other" or "one another" in English.
Maite y José se besan. (Maite and José kiss each other.)
(Ellos) se quieren mucho. (They love one another a lot.)
There are a LOT of reflexive verbs that translate a lot of "get" verbs in English. Here are several. "to get married" -"casarse con" "get divorced" "divorciarse de", "get sick" "enfermarse" "to get better" "mejorarse"
I'm not giving examples of these unless you ask. I'm not sure if you know how to handle these or not.
(3) To take the place of "le" or "les" in a sentence where a direct object pronoun and an indirect pronoun appear in the came sentence.
EX. Did you send your mother the gift. "¿Le mandaste el regalo a tu mamá?"
(Now here come the two pronouns) You would expect the answer to be
"Sí, le lo mandé." (Yes, I sent it to her) But what happens is that "le" or "les" always gets changed to "se" before the direct object pronoun. So we have. "Sí se lo mandé.
(4) This is the "cute" one. There is a complicated rule for it, but let's just say it's the Spanish equivalent of many English expressions like. I ate it all "up." "Me lo comí." Included in these special uses of "se" is the "passive se"
These expressions are varied and are usually learned individually.
Once again this is just a very short résumé, I guess I could write a more complete article. but a Spanish language expert has written a fantastic article on the subject.
Here's the link.
link to "se"
Just because it is sometimes useful to see more than one opinion, I will cite that of Lazarus:
Transitive and intransitive constructions: use of "se" (by Lazarus)
The most conservative classifications give SE 6 different uses; the most standard ones 7-8, and other more detail ones over 10 uses. More or less:
1) When you get any the 8 combinations 'le(s) lo(s)' or 'le(s) la(s)', with indirect and direct object pronouns before the verb, 'le(s)' changes to SE, always.
2) SE can be a reflexive direct object pronoun: Yo me lavo y él se lave (I wash myself and he washes himself). It can also be a reflexive indirect object: Te limpio el zapato y se limpia el zapato (... he washes his own shoe)
3) SE can be a reciprocal pronoun: Se aman (they love each other).
4) SE can be used for impersonal constructions. The verb is always in 3rd person singular, and there is no grammatical subject, but there can be objects: Se recibe a los invitados.
5) SE can be used for 'passive reflexive' constructions. The verb can only be in 3rd person, and it must agree in number with the subject, which is normally placed after it: Se vende esta casa. Se venden estas casas. (these houses are sold)
6) SE is sometimes an essential part of some verbs that cannot function without it, and does not even appear in the dictionarywithout the pronoun: Me arrepiento.
7) With many transitive verbs, it makes them intransitive, often eliminating the cause or agent that provoked the action: Rompo la radio (I break the radio). La radio se rompió (the radio broke). Lo enfadé (I annoyed him). Me enfadé (I got annoyed).
8) With some intransitive verbs, such as 'ir' or 'caer', it places special focus on the beginning of the action, or whatever caused the change. 'Ir' requires a destination, like 'to go (to a place)'; 'irse' doesn't, like 'to leave'.
9) Many transitive verbs take a SE that delimits the action, sometimes modifying the meaning of the verb. Most well known examples are verbs of consumption, like 'comer', 'beber', 'fumar',... 'Comer' is one of the few ones that sometimes requires this 'SE'; in all other verbs it is similar to the difference between 'wash' and 'wash up', and suppressing them does no harm.= to make others worried Preocuparse = to worry
And now the explanation:
Many Spanish verbs are transitive, i.e. they need a direct object. For example:
' romper = to break (something) ' hundir = to sink (something) ' quemar = to burn (something)
These transitive verbs assume that there is something or someone (an object) upon which the action is applied, so if you say "el barco hundió" (the ship sunk), you cannot assume that the ship just couldn't float anymore, since the verb is transitive. The sentence is incomplete in Spanish because after hearing "The ship sunk", any native would be expecting an object, i.e. something to sink. So, the ship sunk... another ship perhaps? Without an object, the sentence sounds incomplete and makes no sense. Spanish's solution for this is add an extra "se" that turns the verb into intransitive, so no object is expected, and everything is assumed to be related to the subject. For example, "El barco se hundió" would be "The ship sunk", but this time, the "se" tells us that this ship is not sinking other ships or anything else, but it is just sinking, nothing more.
The verb "preocupar" requires someone to make worried (the object). You can make your parents worried (preocupar a tus madres), and things can make you worried (la situación me preocupa). However, if you are just worried, with no object (no one to make worried), then Spanish resorts to this "se".
Me preocupo Te preocupas Se preocupa Nos preocupamos Os preocupáis Se preocupan This "se" has no translation in English, since "worry" can be used as intransitive in English, but "preocupar" cannot without this pronoun.
As Eddy mentioned, this "se" is generally called "pronominal", and more intuitively, intransitivizer "se" by other authors.
Daniela´s link is pretty good, however I have some issues with a couple of things.
One common use of se, which is not mentioned is of sudden action, ie: Se cayó el cometa desde el cielo (The comet suddenly fell from the sky) as opposed to: Cayó el cometa desde el cielo (Not suddenly but probably slowly so it was seen during more time).
Se dice que neverá. Literally, such a sentence would mean "it says itself that it will snow," which doesn't make a lot of sense. Using a passive construction, we might translate this sentence as "it is said that it will snow," which is perfectly understandable.
This is correct, but the following needs clarification:
But a more natural way of translating this sentence, at least in informal usage, would be "they say it will snow." "They" here doesn't refer to specific people.
To say it this way, we do it same as in English: Dicen que neverá. Or: Ayer me robaron (Yesterday they robbed me). Ellos is not to indicate they, but to avoid naming who did the robbing - indicative but impersonal.
