Breakdown of Si se me olvida enchufarlo, me quedo sin batería.
yo
I
si
if
lo
it
olvidar
to forget
la batería
the battery
enchufar
to plug in
quedarse sin
to run out of
Elon.io is an online learning platform
We have an entire course teaching Spanish grammar and vocabulary.
Questions & Answers about Si se me olvida enchufarlo, me quedo sin batería.
Why is it se me olvida and not me olvido or just olvido?
Spanish has an “accidental se” construction to present things as unintentional: se + (indirect object) me/te/le… + verb (3rd person). With olvidar, it’s very common: Se me olvida… ≈ “It slips my mind…”.
- Me olvido (de enchufarlo) is also correct and more directly “I forget (to plug it in)”.
- Olvido enchufarlo is grammatical but sounds more formal/blunt (“I forget to plug it in”).
Who is the grammatical subject of se me olvida enchufarlo? Why olvida and not olvido?
The subject is the infinitive clause enchufarlo (“plugging it in”). Because that clause is treated as a third-person singular subject, the verb is olvida, not olvido.
Can I say Si me olvido de enchufarlo instead? Is there any difference?
Yes. Me olvido de + infinitive is perfectly fine: Si me olvido de enchufarlo, me quedo sin batería.
Nuance:
- Se me olvida… frames it as unintentional/it slips my mind.
- Me olvido de… is a straightforward “I forget…”.
Avoid mixing them: se me olvida de is incorrect.
What exactly does the se do in se me olvida?
Here se is not reflexive; it’s the marker of the accidental/experiencer construction. The person affected is shown by the indirect object (me, “to/for me”), and the forgotten thing is the grammatical subject. The feel is “It gets forgotten on me.”
Can I drop se and say Si me olvida enchufarlo?
No. Me olvida would mean “he/she/it forgets me.” For this meaning you need either Se me olvida… or Me olvido de… (or Olvido…).
Where does the lo in enchufarlo come from? Why lo and not la or le?
Lo is a direct object pronoun referring to a masculine singular thing, typically el móvil / el teléfono / el portátil.
- If the device is feminine (e.g., la tablet), use enchufarla.
- Le is not used for inanimate direct objects in standard Spanish (even in leísta Spain), so stick with lo/la.
Can I place the pronoun elsewhere? Are lo enchufar or Si se me olvida lo enchufar OK?
- With an infinitive, the natural placement is to attach the pronoun: enchufarlo.
- Lo enchufar is ungrammatical.
- Clitic climbing (putting the pronoun before a conjugated verb) works with many auxiliaries (e.g., lo quiero enchufar / quiero enchufarlo), but with olvidar + infinitive it’s awkward; Si se me olvida lo enchufar is not idiomatic. Use Si se me olvida enchufarlo.
What does quedar(se) sin mean, and why do we need me?
Quedarse sin + noun means “to end up without / to run out of.” The reflexive pronoun marks the subject’s change of state: me quedo sin batería = “I run out of battery.”
Without the reflexive (just quedar sin), the meaning shifts and this use is not natural here.
Why not the future: me quedaré sin batería?
After si (if) in real, likely, or habitual conditions, Spanish often uses the present: Si… (presente), (presente). You could use the future for a predictive tone: Si se me olvida enchufarlo, me quedaré sin batería, but the present is very common and sounds more general/habitual.
Does batería here mean the physical battery, or the charge level? Why is there no article?
It refers to the charge level, not the physical battery. Sin batería is a set phrase meaning “out of battery.” No article is needed; sin la batería would suggest “without the battery itself,” which would be a different idea.
Is this phrased the same way in Spain and Latin America?
Core grammar is shared, but wording varies:
- Spain: el móvil, me quedo sin batería, enchufarlo / ponerlo a cargar.
- Much of Latin America: el celular, me quedo sin pila/batería, cargarlo / ponerlo a cargar.
Both se me olvida and me olvido de are widely understood.
Any natural synonyms or rephrasings in Spain?
- Si se me olvida ponerlo a cargar, me quedo sin batería.
- Si no lo cargo, me quedo sin batería.
- Si se me olvida enchufar el cargador, me quedo sin batería.
- Emphasizing frequency: Siempre que se me olvida enchufarlo, me quedo sin batería.
How do I say it in the past or as a hypothetical?
- Past habitual: Si se me olvidaba enchufarlo, me quedaba sin batería.
- Less likely/imagined: Si se me olvidara/olvidase enchufarlo, me quedaría sin batería.
- Past counterfactual: Si se me hubiera/hubiese olvidado enchufarlo, me habría quedado sin batería.
- One specific past cause: Como se me olvidó enchufarlo, me quedé sin batería.
How does agreement work with things forgotten, e.g., with plural nouns?
In the accidental se pattern, the verb agrees with the forgotten thing:
- Se me olvidó el cable.
- Se me olvidaron los cables.
With an infinitive subject (as in your sentence), it’s singular: Se me olvida enchufarlo.
Can I reverse the clause order?
Yes: Me quedo sin batería si se me olvida enchufarlo. Both orders are fine. When the si-clause comes first, a comma is standard in writing.
What exactly is being plugged in: the phone or the charger?
Context decides. In everyday speech, enchufarlo typically means the device (the phone) is being plugged in. You can be explicit: enchufar el móvil or enchufar el cargador.
Why is it se me and not me se?
Spanish clitic order is fixed in this construction: se comes before the indirect object pronoun (me/te/le/nos/os/les). So you get se me olvidó, se te cayó, etc. Me se is nonstandard.