Learn Hardcore Spanish (Spain): Ella se cayó en ese escalón ayer, pero está bien. - She fell on that step yesterday, but she is fine.

Caerse is the pronominal form commonly used for accidental or involuntary falls. Se here doesn’t literally mean herself; it marks that the subject underwent the action unintentionally. With people, se cayó is the natural way to say she fell. You can also see this with things: Se cayó el vaso (the glass fell), or with a dative for accidents: A ella se le cayó el vaso (she dropped the glass).

Can I just say Ella cayó instead of Ella se cayó?

It’s grammatically correct but sounds less natural for an accidental fall of a person. In everyday speech, Spaniards overwhelmingly say se cayó. Cayó alone is more neutral/formal or used in set phrases (e.g., talking about an empire that fell).

Why en ese escalón and not de ese escalón?

Caerse en a place: the fall happened there (she tripped or lost balance on that step).
Caerse de something: she fell off/from it (she was on the step and fell down from it). So choose en or de depending on your meaning.

What’s the difference between ese, este, and aquel here?

este escalón: this step (near the speaker).
ese escalón: that step (near the listener or previously identified but not close to the speaker).
aquel escalón: that step over there (far from both).
In many real contexts, ese is the default for a specific but not right-here object.

Why escalón and not escalera?

escalón = an individual step.
escalera = the staircase or the ladder as a whole.
She fell on a step, so escalón fits. If you mean she fell on the stairs generally, en la escalera is also possible.

Where can I place ayer?

All are correct, with slight differences in emphasis:

Ayer se cayó en ese escalón, pero está bien.
Se cayó ayer en ese escalón, pero está bien.
Se cayó en ese escalón ayer, pero está bien.
Putting ayer first foregrounds the time; at the end is also very common.

Why does cayó have a y and an accent?

In the preterite, third person of caer becomes cayó/cayeron to avoid awkward vowel sequences. The accent in cayó marks the stress on the last syllable. Be careful:

cayó = fell
cayo (no accent) = a cay/key (small island)
calló (from callar) = kept quiet

Could it be se caía instead of se cayó?

Use:

se cayó (preterite) for a completed event at a specific time (yesterday).
se caía (imperfect) for repeated/habitual actions or background descriptions (She used to fall; she was falling when…).

Is the subject pronoun Ella necessary?

No. Spanish normally drops subject pronouns: Se cayó en ese escalón ayer, pero está bien. Include Ella for emphasis, contrast, or clarity if context is missing.

Is the comma before pero correct?

Yes. In Spanish, you place a comma before pero when it links clauses: …, pero ….

Why está bien and not es bien?

Use estar + bien to say someone is fine/OK/doing well after an incident: está bien. Ser + bien is not used. With adjectives:

es bueno = is good (a good person/quality)
está bueno in Spain often means tasty (food) or attractive (person), not fine/OK.

Could I say Ayer se ha caído…?

Not in Spain with ayer. In Peninsular Spanish, time markers like ayer require the preterite: Ayer se cayó. The present perfect (se ha caído) is used for events within the current “today” timeframe or with no explicit past time marker.

Is en ese escalón the only natural option?

Alternatives depend on nuance:

Location of the fall: en ese escalón, en la escalera.
Cause: se tropezó con ese escalón y se cayó (he/she tripped on that step and fell). Note tropezar con.

Why does está have an accent?

Está (from estar) takes an accent to mark stress and to distinguish it from esta (this, feminine). So está bien vs esta casa.

Is pero the right conjunction, or should it be sino?

Pero contrasts ideas: she fell, but she is fine. Sino is used for corrections/negations (not X but rather Y), which isn’t the case here.

Any pronunciation tips for key words?

cayó: [ka-‘yo] (in most of Spain, y sounds like a soft y/ʝ).
escalón: stress the last syllable: es-ca-lón.
ayer: a-yer (the y as above).
Keep the stress marks in mind; they reflect how the word is pronounced.