REPASO El se despierta. Nos despertamos. You already learned how to use reflexive pronouns. El se despierta. Nos despertamos. Ellos se visten. Me visto. Os vestís. Ella se baña. Nos bañamos. Te baña. Se duerme(n). Me duermo. Te duerme.

me baño nos bañamos te bañas os bañáis se baña se bañan me visto nos vestimos te vistes os vestís se viste se visten

NUEVO Today, you will learn how to use “se” (3rd person) … - as passive - as an impersonal expression - for unplanned events (and to distance oneself from responsibility) “Se” can also be used to form constructions in which the person performing the action is not expressed or cared about; or that is or needs to be de-emphasized.

Impersonal constructions with se In Spanish, verbs that are not reflexive can be used with “se” to form impersonal constructions. These are statements in which the person performing the action is not important, expressed, defined, or cared about. Se escriben libros en esta clase. → In English, we use/say… 1) the passive voice or Books are written in this class. 2) indefinite subjects (you, they, one, people) are used. They/People/One/You/Ya write books in this class.

Impersonal constructions with se Se habla español en Costa Rica. Spanish is spoken in Costa Rica. (People/One/They/You speak Spanish…) Se puede leer en la sala de espera. You can read in the waiting room. (People/One/They/You can read in…) Se hacen operaciones aquí. They perform operations here. (People/One/They/You perform oper…) Se necesitan medicinas enseguida. They need medicine right away. (People/One/They/You need medicine…)

¡ATENCIÓN! Note that ONLY the third person form is used (ella, ellas) él/ella/Ud. FORM for singular nouns ellos/ellas/Uds. FORM for plural nouns: ¿Se vende el carro? ¿Se venden los carros? Se vende ropa. Se venden camisas.

Impersonal constructions with se You often see the impersonal se in signs, advertisements, and directions. Se prohíbe nadar. Se necesitan programadores. Se entra por la izquierda. Se acepta hablar aquí.

¡INTÉNTALO! Completa las frases de la columna A con se impersonal y los verbos correspondientes en presente. A 1. (enseñar) ______ cinco lenguas en esta universidad. 2. (comer) ______ muy bien en On the Border. 3. (vender) ______ muchas camisetas allí. 4. (servir) ______ platos exquisitos cada noche. 5. (necesitar) ______ mucho dinero. 6. (buscar) ______ secretaria. 1 of 2

Se for unplanned events Se is also used to form statements that describe accidental or unplanned events. In this construction, the person who performs the action is de-emphasized, so as to imply that the accident or unplanned event is not his or her direct responsibility. Now, we use all 6 ‘reflexive’ pronouns (me, te, se, nos, os, se) These statements are constructed using the following pattern. 

Se for unplanned events se + OBJECT + VERB + SUBJECT PRONOUN Se me cayó la pluma. In this type of construction, what would normally be the direct object of the sentence becomes the subject, and it agrees with the verb, not with the indirect object pronoun.

Se for unplanned events I.O. PRONOUN VERB SUBJECT me, te, le quedó la receta. cayó SINGULAR la taza. Se dañó la radio. nos, os, les rompieron las botellas. olvidaron PLURAL las pastillas. perdieron las llaves.

¡ATENCIÓN! While Spanish has a verb for to fall (caer), there is no direct translation for to drop. Dejar caer (let fall) is often used to mean to drop. El médico dejó caer la aspirina. The doctor dropped the aspirin.

Verbs commonly used with se The following verbs are the ones most frequently used with se to describe unplanned events. caer to fall; to drop perder (e:ie) to lose dañar to damage; to break down quedar to be left behind olvidar to forget romper to break

Verbs commonly used with se Se me perdió el teléfono de la farmacia. I lost the pharmacy’s phone number. Se nos olvidaron los pasajes. We forgot the tickets.

Al paciente se le perdió la receta. To clarify or emphasize who the person involved in the action is, this construction commonly begins with the preposition a + [noun] or a + [prepositional pronoun]. Al paciente se le perdió la receta. The patient lost his prescription. A Diana se le olvidó ir al consultorio ayer. Diana forgot to go to the doctor’s office yesterday. A mí se me cayeron los cuadernos. I dropped the notebooks. A ustedes se les quedaron los libros en casa. You left the books at home.

¡INTÉNTALO! Completa las frases de la columna B con se y los verbos en pretérito para expresar sucesos imprevistos. B 1. (I broke) ______ las gafas. 2. (You (fam.) dropped) ______ las pastillas. 3. (They lost) ______ la receta. 4. (You (form.) left) ______ aquí la radiografía. 5. (We forgot) ______ pagar la medicina. 6. (They left) ______ los antibióticos en la clínica. 2 of 2