Se in sentences
hey,
What is the use of the se in this sentence: Es todo lo que él se puede permitir comprar.
how can i identify the use of se in each sentence? It is realy hard figuring it out
Thank you!
5 Answers
What is the use of the se in this sentence: Es todo lo que él se puede permitir comprar.
how can i identify the use of se in each sentence? It is really hard figuring it out
In this case the sentence means:
Literally: It is all what (or that which) he can permit himself to buy.
As little less literally:
This is all he can allow himself to buy.
This is all he can afford.
There are, I think, at least seven common uses of "se". If you study the Spanish Dict Video course which you can find under the main menu "Learn Spanish" I think you will learn about most, if not all of them.
How can you figure it out? Be aware and understand each way that "se" can be used. In the vast majority of cases, if you know the rules for each one of the ways, you can figure out which way is being used and what the meaning is by using logic.
Alternatively, you will get much faster at learning the meaning of sentences with "se" just by reading a lot of Spanish and listening to a lot of spoken Spanish or watching TV and movies.
For an introduction to the "topic of se" in Spanish there are many good videos on YouTube. Just search for - uses of se in Spanish - and you will find them.
Here is a humorous YouTube video that I think you will enjoy:
The verb is permitirse.
Yo me permito. Tú te permites. Ël se permite Nosotros nos permitimos Ellos se permiten.
I allow myself You allow yoursef He allows himself etc.
In case you missed it, in the above explanations, "se" here means "himself." Dilken translated the sentence quite correctly, but unless I missed it, none of these explanations directly said that "se" means (at least in this case) "himself."
If I were talking about myself, I would say: "Es todo lo que (yo) me puedo permitir comprar."
There are grammar articles about many of the uses of "se" which you can find under the main menu "Language Guide"
Under pronouns:
Passive Se in Spanish
Impersonal Se in Spanish
Impersonal Se vs Passive Se
Under Verbs:
Reflexive Verbs and Reflexive Pronouns
Spanish Verb Types
Reciprocal Verbs and Reciprocal Pronouns
Active vs. Passive Voice
Also note that sé (with an accent) is a different word, with a couple of different meanings (I know) and as the command form of ser (be quiet!). When reading it is easy to distinguish but it sounds the same as se (without any accent) when spoken.
There are several other uses of se, mostly having to do with pronominal verbs that are neither passive nor reciprocal. But we're getting into deep water here - these are more advanced topics. If you learn about what Mardle and I have already mentioned you'll be well on your way.
Please note: I highly recommend taking the entire SpanishDict Video course as your learning foundation. Reading the grammar articles (and other material you can find in books and on the internet) are great supplements to a structured course but should not, in my opinion, be used as your introduction to these topics -- they could end up confusing you more than helping you if you don't have a basic foundation built already.
se puede is often used in Spaanish. It is the equivalent of 'one is able to' but in English we often change it from impersonal to for example 'we can' or 'you can'
In America Obama's message of yes we can was converted to 'sí, se puede' 1. Se is used for third person singular and plural in reflexive verbs. NB whilst some verbs just describe something you are doing to yourself others like irse and hacerse change their meaning
When you have two pronouns together rather than say or write le lo the first one is changed to se.
It is used in passive voice
It is used in impersonal expressions.
Here is an article about it
You will soon get a feel for what category se is in.
