se te + verb - what does this translate as?

Question

I really don't understand "se te" myself. I know se lo and se la but se te???

I was given the following examples by a native speaker, but I don't really understand what those pronouns are doing and why the verb is in the 3rd person....

Se te antoja ir a la fiesta?/ do you feel like going to the party? Se te cayó una moneda / you dropped a coin Se te olvidó recoger la lavandería / you forgot to pick up the laundry

I am trying to get a more direct translation. What about these? Se te antoja ir a la fiesta?/ does it feel to you - to go to the party (I know this isn't right in English) Se te cayó una moneda / A coin dropped from you Se te olvidó recoger la lavandería / The laundry is forgotten by you

I know those aren't good translations, I just am trying to get a bit closer...

Answer 1

You understand this better than you think you do.

The Spanish passive, using "se":

Se cayó una moneda. A coin dropped itself. A coin fell.

The verb cayó is in the third person because the coin is the subject. The coin performed the action of flinging itself to the floor. Now, to whom did this unfortunate event happen? To you. Se te cayó una moneda. A coin dropped itself (and it happened to you). A coin did you the discourtesy of flinging itself to the floor.

Your other translations, which you recognize as poor English, indicate that you grasp this. A word-by-word translation just isn't going to cut it.

¿Se te antoja ir a la fiesta? Does it feel to you - to go to the party? (Do you feel like going to the party?)
Se te olvidó recoger la lavandería. The laundry is forgotten by you. (You are the unfortunate victim of the forgetting [alas, it's your own forgetting] of the laundry.)

Answer 2

You are right in what you think.

Se te fue el avión. Llegaste tarde.
Se te corrió el maquillaje. Limpiate.
Se te fue tu novio con otra.
Se te abrió la puerta. Ciérrala.
Se me perdió el gato. Tengo que encontrarlo.
Se nos prendió fuego el auto. Fue un accidente.
Se le ocurrió una idea brillante.
Se me secó la lengua. Necesito un vaso de agua por favor.
Se los multó por pasar con un semáforo en rojo.
etc. etc.

In each case the "me", "te", "le", "los" implies that the action is supposed to be "received" or is "important" for different people: me, you, him, her, us, them.

Hope it helps a bit.

Answer 3

Hello!

This link from 2009 might be the answer to your question. Sentence Construction using the "Se" Pronoun: Se me olvidó la carta.

Hope this helps.

Regards!