What is the meaning of "se me"?
Hey all,
So I was wondering what the meaning of "se me", as used in Enrique Iglesias' Bailando is (yo te miro, se me corta la respiracion)
Thanks,
3 Answers
Rishahb:
Feliz' explanation of the meaning of the sentence is excellent.
If you are looking for little more explanation behind the "se me" aspect of the sentence, I offer the following:
The "se" is a reflexive pronoun that comes from the verb cortarse. When you have a verb with a -se on the end, it is called a pronominal verb. This comes from pronombre, which is the word for pronoun in Spanish. Literally, it is a verb that requires a pronoun to be used with it to give it full meaning.
From the SD dictionary here is an example of similar use.
cortarse
24. (to get interrupted)
a. to get cut off
Se cortó la línea; ahorita la vuelvo a marcar.
The connection got cut off; I'll call her back in a bit.
The "me" is an indirect object pronoun.
The way to describe the second clause in the most literal way possible:
The breathing is interrupted and this effects me. (effects me --> me as indirect pronoun)
Not so literally:
My breath is interrupted. (or cut off)
I lose my breath.
It takes my breath away. (probably the most artistic/poetic way of saying this)
Another way to interpret the above grammatical structure is as "se passive" With "se passive" there is no agent mentioned in the clause that does the cutting off. (cortar) It simply says the breath is cut off. (passive in English) Se corta la respiración.
Adding the "me" after "se" is just the Spanish way of saying whose breath was cut off. Spanish tends to avoid using possessive pronouns (mi in this case) for body parts, bodily functions, pains, etc. and uses the technique you saw in your sentence. A simple example: Me duele la cabeza. My head hurts or I have a headache.
Here's a simple example of active vs. passive with a less figurative direct object (a tree)
Juán cortó el árbol. (Active sentence in Spanish)
John cut the tree. (Active sentence in English)
Se cortó el árbol. (Se passive sentence)
The tree was cut. (English passive)
Note that Juán and John disappear from the final two sentences. The focus shifts away from who did the cutting to the simple fact that the tree was cut.
Hello Rishab,
Welcome to our Spanishdict community forum 
You asked:
Hey all, So I was wondering what the meaning of "se me", as used in Enrique Iglesias' Bailando is (yo te miro, se me corta la respiracion) Thanks,
Thank you for providing context so we can see how the singer is using these words/lyrics
I think it means: I look at you / I see you, it takes my breath away!
I believe the singer is saying that when he sees her/looks at her, she takes his breath away! Her beauty blows him away! 
The words: Se me are part of the whole sentence and I do not think that they can translated word for word (literally) but I could be wrong!
I would ssy that se me in this context means that it (the action of seeing you) is doing something to me (it is taking my breath away!)
I am not a native Spanish speaker but just an experienced intermediate level student so you may wish to wait for confirmation from native speakers
I hope this helps
Corrijan mi español si es necesario, por favor
Please see my article on this subject.
