Showing results for se
See entry for:
- saber
se
itself
A reflexive pronoun that turns the action back on the subject
Encoding Strategies:
repetition
Se means itself, and it signals that the subject is doing the action to itself0.
se
itself, himself, herself, themselves (reflexive)
The subject does the action to itself.
Se afeitó por la mañanaHe shaved himself in the morning
Ya se viste ella solaShe can already dress herself
Se lastimaron jugandoThey hurt themselves playing
each other, one another (reciprocal)
When the subject is plural, 'self' extends naturally to mean each person does it to the other.
Se miraron y sonrieronThey looked at each other and smiled
Hace años que no se venThey haven't seen each other in years
(impersonal)
When there's no clear subject performing the action, Spanish uses 'se' to make the verb impersonal or passive. It's as if the action just "does itself."
Se habla español aquíSpanish is spoken here (Spanish speaks itself here)
Se dice que es muy ricoThey say he's very rich ("that he's very rich" says itself)
se
him, her, them
A stand-in for le / les when followed by lo, la, los, or las
Encoding Strategies:
repetition
When an indirect object (le, les) comes before a direct object (lo, la, los, las), the indirect object becomes se. Otherwise 'le lo' or 'les lo' would stack two similar sounds together, so Spanish smooths it out to se lo.
se lo
him, her, them (indirect object)
The indirect object pronoun, equivalent to 'le' or 'les'.
Se lo di a MaríaI gave it to María
¿El libro? Se lo presté a JuanThe book? I lent it to Juan
Se las mandé a mis padresI sent them to my parents