The impersonal se seems confusing to me

[BrianDeBama]

Anybody know of some good resources or exercises to help me get a grasp on its usage?

[Rusty]

There are good threads in the forums.
There are a few web sites that teach about it.

Don't let the fact that 'se' has a lot of different uses steer you from its 'impersonal' use. It's important to know the difference.
AdA has provided some good examples of the different uses in this thread.

[jedi5384]

It's very similar to how in English, we say "you", "they", or "one" in a generic sense without referring to a specific person.

Se hablan español en México.
They speak Spanish in Mexico.
Spanish is spoken in Mexico.

Se dicen que...
They say that...

Nunca se sabe.
You never know.
One never knows.

Hope this helps. Native speakers may be able to explain it better.

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

@Jedi: I'll make a small precision on what you said:

If you use the impersonal form with "se", the verb must be conjugated for third person singular: Se habla español en México(Spanish is spoken in Mexico), se dice que... (it is said that...)

The conjugation for third person plural never takes the impersonal form with "se":
Hablan español en México (they speak Spanish in Mexico), dicen que... (they say that...)

[jedi5384]

Originally Posted by AngelicaDeAlquezar

@Jedi: I'll make a small precision on what you said:

If you use the impersonal form with "se", the verb must be conjugated for third person singular: Se habla español en México(Spanish is spoken in Mexico), se dice que... (it is said that...)

The conjugation for third person plural never takes the impersonal form with "se":
Hablan español en México (they speak Spanish in Mexico), dicen que... (they say that...)

My mistake, thanks for clarifying. I'm always glad to learn something new

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

I'm glad you found it useful.

[BrianDeBama]

Thank you guys for the replies. I can feel the "se" starting to sink into my brain.