The passive "se" for things
When reading job listings, police reports, or formal notices, you will often see statements where the doer of the action isn't specified. When the action happens to a thing, we use the passive se.
In this structure, the thing receiving the action acts as the grammatical subject. This means the verb must agree in number, taking a plural form if the thing is plural, or a singular form if it is singular.
| Several documents are requested for the vacancy. | Se solicitan varios documentos para la vacante. |
| More information is required about the vacancy. | Se requiere más información sobre la vacante. |
The impersonal "se" for people
If the action is done to a specific person or a group of people, the rules change. Whenever you refer to specific people as the direct object of a verb, you must use the personal a.
Because the personal a makes the person an object rather than the subject, the verb can no longer agree with them. Instead, we use the impersonal se and the verb always stays in the singular form—even if you are talking about multiple people.
| Yesterday the candidates were summoned. | Ayer se convocó a las candidatas. |
| The murderer's accomplice has been identified. | Se ha identificado al cómplice del asesino. |
| The hostages were rescued last night. | Se rescató a los rehenes anoche. |
Comparing things and people
To see the difference clearly, look at how the verb juzgar (to judge) behaves when applied to things versus people.
When judging plural things, like intentions, the verb becomes plural to agree with the noun.
| Intentions are not judged here. | Aquí no se juzgan las intenciones. |
When judging specific people, like thieves, we must add the personal a and freeze the verb in its singular form.
| The thieves were tried last week. | Se juzgó a las ladronas la semana pasada. |
