Using "se"

[bricks]

I have trouble understanding when this is used other than a third person pronoun (himself etc). I have read several sites but still am rather confused about pretty much every other use of the word.

Can somebody kind shed some light?

P.S - I don't mean se as in "know".

Thank you

[hermit]

Hi bricks - One of the most subtle expressive devices in any language,
and certainly in Spanish, is the reflexive pronoun.

Examples:

"Se puede decirlo así." "One can say it like that."

"No se puede pasar por aquí." literally, "One cannot go through this way."
So, "Nobody can, (and everybody will have to detour.)"

¿Cómo se dice...? "How does one say...?", therefore, "How do you say...?"
"How is it said in Spain (en España)?

There, for starters; there's plenty more!

[CrOtALiTo]

Originally Posted by bricks

I have trouble understanding when this is used other than a third person pronoun (himself etc). I have read several sites but still am rather confused about pretty much every other use of the word.

Can somebody kind shed some light?

P.S - I don't mean se as in "know".

Thank you

Well really I don't know that you are trying to ask us, but I have a little idea about your thinking in the you need to know or really in the you want knowing.

I can give you a some example or advises of the you need to know.

El se espera que pase el mal tiempo.

Se espero a que dejara de llover.

Se entendio con el cartero.

Exactly those examples are the I can give you.


Have fun.

[Rusty]

There are many posts in these forums that describe the various uses of the pronoun se. Search for 'reflexive se', 'passive se', 'impersonal se', and 'double object pronouns' (the 3rd-person IOP le becomes se when it's followed by a DOP that begins with an 'l'). Here's a site to whet your appetite.

[Perikles]

Originally Posted by Rusty

Here's a site to whet your appetite.

Thanks for the link - it's very useful.

There seems to be some overlap in the range of explanations:

As the equivalent of the English passive voice: By using se, particularly when discussing inanimate objects, it is possible to indicate some sort of action without indicating who performed the action.

The impersonal se: Se puede encontrar cocos en el mercado. (You can find coconuts in the market.)

The example given can also be translated coconuts can be found in the market. This is how I would translate it, and this makes it a passive voice, not an impersonal.

The difference is not obvious (to me ).
I've just had a thought - is the difference identified by the singular Se puede with coconuts (plural) which makes it an impersonal, whereas as a substitute for a passive voice it would be Se pueden ?

[bricks]

That link was the one I was reading before I made this post, and I had trouble understanding it. I guess it wasn't entirely my fault then.

But yes, I will make the necessary searches recommended.

Thank you. I will post here if I have any more questions if nobody minds.

[chileno]

I think it is intimately jointed to "it"

[bricks]

Originally Posted by chileno

I think it is intimately jointed to "it"

Gracias amigo.

Pero un consejo para usted, en Ingles se dice "joined to it".

(Did I do it right?)

[Perikles]

Originally Posted by chileno

I think it is intimately jointed to "it"

Originally Posted by bricks

Pero un consejo para usted, en Ingles se dice "joined to it".

(Did I do it right?)

I think he wanted to say 'intimately connected with "it" '

[bricks]

Originally Posted by Perikles

I think he wanted to say 'intimately connected with "it" '

Sorry, I should be more clear. Did I use "se" correctly in that sentence?