21 Impersonal use of Flashcards
“No fault” construction
One of the many uses of the word se in Spanish is in a “no fault” construction. Just as the name indicates, this construction is used for unexpected occurrences and does not place the blame on anyone.
These sentences include se, an indirect object pronoun which refers to the person(s) involved (usually as an innocent victim) and the verb which is in the third person and agrees with the recipient. For example:
Juan lost his wallet (Juan’s wallet “got” lost).
A Juan se le perdió la cartera.
We dropped the glasses. (The glasses fell).
Se nos cayeron los gafas.
I forgot your books (Your books were forgotten).
Se me olvidaron tus libros.
I broke the table (the table broke).
Se me rompió la mesa.
Your money has run out? (ended)
¿Se te ha acabado el dinero?
The no fault construction is very commonly used. In fact, if you were to not use it you would appear to have done the action on purpose.
For example:
I broke the table.
Rompí la mesa.
Perdí mi tarea.
I lost my homework.
Both of these sentences would imply an intentional act on the subject’s part. Another possible translation of the first sentence would be, “I broke the table on purpose.”
In some sentences, ‘se’ is used in an impersonal sense with singular verbs to indicate that people in general, or no person in particular, performs the action. When ‘se’ is used in this way, the sentence follows the same pattern as those in which the main verb is used reflexively, except that there is no subject to the sentence that is explicitly stated. As the examples below show, there are variety of ways such sentences can be translated to English.
People drive fast in Lima.
Se maneja rápidamente en Lima.
You can find coconuts in the market.
Se puede encontrar cocos en el mercado.
Often you have to study to learn.
Muchas veces se tiene que estudiar para aprender.
One ought not to eat quickly.
No se debe comer con prisa.
