Word
Se convoca a los candidatos para la audición.
Meaning
The candidates are summoned for the audition.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Se convoca a los candidatos para la audición.
para
for
se
(impersonal) one / passive marker
el candidato
the candidate
convocar
to summon / to call for
Questions & Answers about Se convoca a los candidatos para la audición.
Why is the verb convoca singular when los candidatos is plural?
This is exactly how we disambiguate the impersonal se. When you use the personal a before a direct object referring to people (like a los candidatos), the sentence is forced into the impersonal structure. In this structure, the verb must always be in the third-person singular (convoca), regardless of whether the object is singular or plural.
Why do we use the personal a here? Couldn't we just say Se convocan los candidatos?
You can, but adding the personal a removes ambiguity. Without it, Se convocan los candidatos could be misinterpreted as a reciprocal action meaning the candidates summon each other. By using the personal a and a singular verb (Se convoca a), you make it absolutely clear that an unspecified someone is summoning them.
Why does the English translation use the passive voice if this is an impersonal sentence?
English doesn't have a direct equivalent to this impersonal se structure. A literal translation would be someone summons the candidates. Using the passive voice is simply the most natural way to convey the same meaning in English without changing the focus of the sentence.
Why use para instead of por in this sentence?