BellaOnline Forums Education Spanish Language Struggling with the use of se

Any handy tips on how to better understand and use "se" in Spanish. I cannot seem to get my head around this. Here are some example sentences I have been working on lately. The text is taken from a childrens storybook I am studying entitled " El ba�l Magico2


1. Es un ba�l, hijo.Su due�o viv�a aqu� antes y me pid�o que se lo guard�ramos un tiempo

2. Se me hace que tiene adentro un cad�ver

3. Luego se nos occurr�o ocultarlo

I feel it is important I get to grips withthis "se" as it crops up all over the place. But most importantly I need to be able to use it in my own literature and conversation.

Thanks in advance for any help or advice

Neville

�Hola Neville!

"se" may be sometimes confusing for Spanish students, as it has several uses and functions.

We can say that "se" has four uses:

1. "se" used in Spanish sentences which are translated into English as passive voice sentences.

(Active voice : Elena eats potatoes;
Passive voice: Those potatoes are eaten by Elena)

So, for example:
'Se necesita camarero' --> 'Waiter (is) needed'

2. "se" used in reflexive verbs: peinarse, lavarse, etc.

i.e.: She washes herself --> (Ella) se lava.

Reflexive verbs: the subject and object of the action is the same:

She washes herself:

Subject : She
Object: herself

And here we have an example for a non reflexive verb:

He washes some glasses:

Subject: He
Object: some glasses.

3. Impersonal sentences; when the sentences does not show a concrete subject, but it refers to people in general.

i.e.: 'En Roma se conduce muy deprisa" ('People drive very fast in Roma')

And finally:

4. "se" substitutes direct / indirect pronouns "le" and "les", if the following pronoun begins with an 'l', so that it does not sound redundant:

'El dijo la verdad a Antonio' (He told the truth to Antonio)
'El le (to Antonio) la (the truth) dijo' (He told it to him)

If we say 'El le la dijo', we have 'le' 'la' together, and it doesn't sound fine, so to avoid this, we use 'se' instead of 'le'.

Ok, so, according to the sentences you posted:

[color:"blue"]1. Es un ba�l, hijo.Su due�o viv�a aqu� antes y me pid�o que se lo guard�ramos un tiempo [/color]

--> 'que se lo guard�ramos'. Here, 'se' is used instead of 'le', as the following pronoun is 'lo', and as this last one begins with an 'l', it would sound too redundant:

'que le lo guard�ramos' --> 'que se lo guardaramos'

[color:"blue"]2. Se me hace que tiene adentro un cad�ver[/color]

--> 'se me hace', from the verb 'hacerse', which, according to the 'Real Academia de la lengua' (www.rae.es) means: "parecer otra cosa" (to look different from the think already seen, heard, etc...) So, this sentences could be translated as: It seems to me that he has a dead body inside of him? her?.

In this case, "se me hace" and concretely the infinitive "hacerse" is a pronominal verb, that's a verb that is conjugated as a reflexive one, but hasn't got a reflexive meaning. <img src="/images/graemlins/rolling.gif" alt="" />

[color:"blue"]3. Luego se nos ocurri� ocultarlo [/color]

'ocurrirse', this is another pronominal verb, as the one in the sentence above, that is it conjugated as a reflexive one, but is not a reflexive verb.

Well, this is quite a complicate grammar point, but hope this explanation can help you. If you have more questions, please post it here or e-mail me, ok?

Finally, note that you don't have to mix up 'se', and 's�', as the last one is the fist person singular, present tense of the verb 'saber'.

Yo s� = I know
Saber = To know.