Murió al caerle encima una nevera

[Tyrn]

Hi,

A las 7.17, un viejo arce de Old Cape, en
Los Barrens, cayó con un estruendo aterrado y
aplastó un almacén nocturno en la esquina de
Merit Street con la avenida Cape. Un anciano
cliente, llamado Raymon Fogarty, murió al caerle
encima una nevera.

An elderly patron named Raymond Fogarty was killed by a toppling
beer cooler.


Concerning the Spanish part: why the fridge fell on the client, and not the other way around? Suppose the patron fell on the beer cooler; how would you say that in Spanish? Any rules, maybe?

[Rusty]

Originally Posted by Tyrn

Concerning the Spanish part: why did the fridge fall on the client, and not the other way around?

Although the complete construction isn't needed in this case, this is an example of the "no-fault 'se'" construction.
Accidents happen, but in Spanish the human is not at fault.

If you want to place fault on the human, use caer instead of the no-fault se construction. In the case where the human is falling on top of the cooler, use "El anciano cliente cayó encima de la nevera."

Se me rompió el vaso. = I broke my glass (by accident).
Rompí el vaso. = I broke my glass (on purpose).

Se me olvidó su nombre. = I forgot your name (don't blame me).
Olvidé su nombre. = I forgot your name (I take the blame).

[Tyrn]

Thanks! Why does it take decades to learn asking questions in English ?

[Tomisimo]

"... al caerle encima una nevera." (The cooler fell on him.)

"... al caerse encima de una nevera." (He fell on the cooler.)

[Tyrn]

Suppose I'm talking of myself.

...al caerme encima una nevera - "...when it fell on me..."

...al caerme encima de una nevera - "...when I fell on it..."

Is it correct?

[Rusty]

Yes!
Make sure the verb prior to the preposition al also gets changed to first person.