All Uses of SE in Spanish

Reflexive, reciprocal, passive, impersonal, accidental, and pronoun swap.

1. Reflexive SE — the subject acts on itself

Subject = object of the action

Ella se lava. (She washes herself.)
Se despierta a las siete. (He wakes up at seven.)
Nos sentamos. (We sit down.)

2. Reciprocal SE — they do it to each other

Two or more people acting on each other

Se quieren mucho. (They love each other.)
Se escriben cartas. (They write to each other.)
Nos vemos mañana. (We'll see each other tomorrow.)

3. Passive SE — something is done (no agent named)

Se + verb (agrees with subject)

Se habla español. (Spanish is spoken.)
Se venden coches. (Cars are sold.)
Se necesitan profesores. (Teachers are needed.)

4. Impersonal SE — "one does" / "people do"

Se + verb (always 3rd person singular)

Se come bien aquí. (One eats well here.)
Se puede aparcar. (One can park here.)
¿Cómo se dice? (How does one say? = How do you say?)

5. Accidental SE — it happened to me!

Se + indirect pronoun + verb (removes blame)

Se me cayó el vaso. (The glass fell on me = I dropped it.)
Se me olvidó la cita. (The appointment forgot itself on me = I forgot.)
Se le rompió el teléfono. (The phone broke on him.)

6. SE replacing LE/LES before LO/LA

Le/les + lo/la → se lo/la

Le + lo = Se lo doy. (I give it to him.) — NOT le lo
Les + la = Se la envío. (I send it to them.)

How to tell which SE

Quick test

Can you add "a sí mismo" (to himself)? → Reflexive
Can you add "mutuamente" (mutually)? → Reciprocal
Can you say "por alguien" (by someone)? → Passive
Is there no specific subject? → Impersonal
Is there se + me/te/le + verb? → Accidental
Does se replace le before lo/la? → Pronoun swap

Quick quiz

1. Ella se lava. This SE is _____.

2. Se habla español. This SE is _____.

3. Se me cayó el vaso. This SE is _____.

4. Se quieren mucho. This SE is _____.

5. ¿Cómo se dice? This SE is _____.

6. Se lo doy. This SE replaces _____.

7. Se venden coches. The verb agrees with _____.

8. Se me olvidó la cita. Who forgot?

9. Se escriben cartas. = They write _____.

10. Se puede aparcar aquí. This is _____ SE.

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