Learn Spanish (Latin America): Se me olvidó comprar la crema hidratante, pero tengo el gel absorbente. - I forgot to buy the moisturizing cream, but I have the absorbent gel.

Se me olvidó comprar la crema hidratante, pero tengo el gel absorbente.

I forgot to buy the moisturizing cream, but I have the absorbent gel.

Breakdown of Se me olvidó comprar la crema hidratante, pero tengo el gel absorbente.

to me / me (direct object)

Questions & Answers about Se me olvidó comprar la crema hidratante, pero tengo el gel absorbente.

How are the adjectives hidratante and absorbente formed in this sentence?

They are created from the verbs hidratar (to moisturize) and absorber (to absorb). To form these active adjectives that describe a noun doing the action, you drop the infinitive ending and add -ante for -ar verbs, or -ente for -er and -ir verbs.

Since crema is feminine and gel is masculine, shouldn't hidratante and absorbente change their endings to match?

No, because adjectives ending in -e are gender-neutral. This includes all active adjectives formed with -ante, -ente, or -iente. They use the exact same form for both masculine and feminine nouns, though they do still take an -s if the noun is plural.

Why does the sentence use Se me olvidó instead of just saying Olvidé?

While both mean you forgot, se me olvidó uses the accidental se construction. This structure shifts the blame away from the speaker, framing the event as a slip of the mind that just happened to you rather than a deliberate action. It is the most natural and common way to talk about accidentally forgetting something in Latin American Spanish.

In Se me olvidó, why is the verb conjugated as olvidó (third-person singular) when I am the one who forgot?