Breakdown of Él y su novia se están besando.
él
he
y
and
estar
to be (location/state)
su
his/her/its/their/your (formal)
la novia
girlfriend
se
each other (reciprocal)
besar
to kiss
Questions & Answers about Él y su novia se están besando.
Why is se used here instead of just saying están besando?
In Spanish, the pronoun se shows that the action is reciprocal, meaning two or more people are doing it to each other. Without se, están besando would just mean they are kissing something or someone else, but not necessarily each other.
Could I put se at the end of the sentence instead?
Yes! When you use the present progressive (like están besando), you can either put the pronoun before the conjugated verb (se están besando) or attach it to the end of the action word (están besándose). Note that if you attach it to the end, you need to add an accent mark over the a in besándose to keep the natural stress of the word.
Does se always mean each other?
Not always. You might remember se from reflexive verbs, where it means someone does an action to themselves (like él se baña, meaning he bathes himself). Because kissing is a mutual action between two people here, context tells us se means each other (reciprocal) rather than themselves (reflexive).
Why does Él have an accent mark?
The accent mark shows the difference between él (he) and el (the). Even when it is capitalized at the beginning of a sentence, the accent mark is required to keep the meaning clear.
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