Question 1

Why do we use uno here instead of the impersonal se?

Accepted Answer

The verb is acostumbrarse (to get used to), which already requires the reflexive pronoun se. Spanish does not allow placing two se pronouns together (se se acostumbra). To make a general statement with a reflexive verb, you must use uno (or una) as the subject instead to avoid this clash.

Question 2

Since the subject is uno, why is the reflexive pronoun se?

Accepted Answer

The pronoun uno is grammatically third-person singular, just like él or ella. Because of this, it always takes the third-person reflexive pronoun se. If a female speaker chose to use una, she would still say una nunca se acostumbra.

Question 3

Do I always need the preposition a after acostumbrarse?

Accepted Answer

Yes. When you want to say you get used to doing an action, acostumbrarse is always followed by a plus the infinitive verb. Here, it connects the phrase to perforar (to drill).

Question 4

Can nunca be placed somewhere else in this sentence?

Accepted Answer

Yes, you can move it to the end, but Spanish requires a double negative in that case. You would have to say Uno no se acostumbra nunca a perforar la roca. Placing nunca directly before the verb is often more natural and does not require an extra no.

Uno nunca se acostumbra a perforar la roca.

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