Learn Spanish (Latin America): Se nos olvidó alimentar al perro y ahora ladra. - We forgot to feed the dog and now it is barking.

Se nos olvidó alimentar al perro y ahora ladra.

We forgot to feed the dog and now it is barking.

Breakdown of Se nos olvidó alimentar al perro y ahora ladra.

Questions & Answers about Se nos olvidó alimentar al perro y ahora ladra.

Why is it Se nos olvidó instead of just Olvidamos?

In Spanish, it is very common to use the 'accidental se' structure for things like forgetting, dropping, or breaking things. Se nos olvidó literally translates closer to 'It forgot itself to us.' This implies it was an accident and takes the blame off the speaker. You could say Olvidamos alimentar al perro, but the se structure sounds much more natural for an accidental slip of the memory.

If olvidó is in the 'he/she/it' form, what is the 'it' that forgot itself here?

The 'it' (the grammatical subject of the verb olvidó) is the entire action of feeding the dog: alimentar al perro. Because an infinitive verb phrase acts as a singular noun, olvidó is conjugated in the singular third-person form.

Why do we use al (a + el) before perro? Is the personal a used for animals?

Yes, the personal a is used not only for people but also for pets or specific animals that you have an emotional connection to. Since this is the family dog, alimentar al perro requires the personal a, which combines with el to make al.

Why doesn't the second half say ahora está ladrando for 'now it is barking'?