The uses of "Se" in these sentences.

Question

I understand that Se has its uses in Impersonal and Passive Se,but I can't seem to identify its use in these sentences.Please help!

"Ella se baña en la bañera por quince minutos" as well as,

"Creen que los vecinos se den cuenta si me robo una flor?

Answer 1

These pronominal uses of se are ones that are actually reflexive. Some people call all pronominal uses reflexive but they are not, only some are.

Ella se baña en la bañera por quince minutos- She bathes herself in the bathtub for fifteen minutes.

"Creen que los vecinos se den cuenta si me robo una flor- I do not like the grammar of the sentence at all. Maybe a native speaker will come by and explain it. I will answer for two related sentences:

Creen que los vecinos se darán cuenta si me robo una flor- Do you (all) think that the neighbors will give themselves account (ie realize, notice) if I steal a flower for myself.

Creen que los vecinos se darían cuenta si me robara una flor una flor. Do you (all) think that the neighbors would give themselves account (ie realize, notice) if I were to steal a flower for myself.

I just don't see the present subjunctive there.

But for each pronominal use of se, notice I can write a sentence with a "self" word that matches in English.

Thanks alot! Se and Que are some of the words that I am having trouble with at the moment and you're making it fairly easy for me to understand :D - NoelJ, Jan 16, 2017

The me is not needed, and only shades the meaning or robo, to indicate the benefit the person accrues. I am not sure that is considered truly reflexive, but it is pronominal. :) - bosquederoble, Jan 16, 2017