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Spanish (Spain)

### Things that happen by themselves

When something changes and nobody does it — a door opens, a glass breaks, the power goes out — Spanish puts **se** before the verb and makes the thing the subject. The verb agrees with it: **se rompió el vaso**, **se rompieron los vasos**. English often uses the bare verb (*the door opened*); with verbs like these, Spanish usually needs the **se**.

| someone does it | it happens by itself |
|---|---|
| Luis **abrió** la puerta. | **Se abrió** la puerta. |
| **He roto** el vaso. | El vaso **se ha roto**. |
| **Apagué** la luz. | **Se apagó** la luz. |

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The **se** also takes the blame off you: the glass broke, nobody broke it.

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### **Se** goes first

You know **se me ha caído** from accidents. Whenever **se** meets another pronoun, **se** comes first: **se me**, **se te**, **se le**, **se nos**, **se os**, **se les**. *Me se* is a slip you will hear in casual speech, but it is wrong.

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### **Se lo** … **a Ana**

**Le** or **les** before **lo, la, los, las** becomes **se**. With a noun object, the **le** is usual but can be left out: *Le di el libro a Ana* or *Di el libro a Ana*. Once the object is a pronoun, the **se** is practically always there in conversation, even with **a Ana** at the end.

| noun object | pronoun object |
|---|---|
| (Le) di el libro a Ana. | **Se lo** di a Ana. |
| (Le) he devuelto la bici a Luis. | **Se la** he devuelto a Luis. |

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### Common mistakes

- *El vaso rompió* → **El vaso se rompió**.
- *Me se ha caído* → **Se me ha caído**.
- *Lo di a Ana* → in conversation, **Se lo di a Ana**.

More about se (se abrió la puerta, se lo di a Ana)

adjective

adverb

conjunction

contraction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Singular subjects and 'ser' (yo soy, esto es)

Plural nouns and definite articles (los, las)

Plural pronouns and 'ser' (somos, sois, son)

Adjective agreement (-o, -a, -os, -as)

Indefinite articles (un, una, unos, unas)

Simple negation (no)

Yes/no questions

Regular '-ar' verbs (-o, -as, -a...)

Regular '-er' verbs (-o, -es, -e...)

Regular '-ir' verbs (-o, -es, -e...)

Locative adverbs (aquí, allí)

Question words (quién, cómo)

The verb estar (estoy, estás)

The preposition en (en)

Ser vs. estar

The verb tener (tengo, tienes)

Possessive determiners (mi, tu, su)

Origin and possession (de, del)

The verb ir (voy, vas)

Destination (a, al)

The personal 'a' (a)

Stem-changing verbs: e to ie

Stem-changing verbs: o to ue

Irregular first-person verbs

Reflexive verbs (me, te, se)

Numbers 1 to 10 (uno, dos, tres)

Numbers 11 to 20 (once, doce, trece)

Counting by tens to 100 (treinta, cuarenta, cien)

Compound numbers up to 99 (veintiuno, treinta y uno)

Days of the week (el lunes, el martes)

The family and the personal 'a' (a mi tío, a mi prima)

Months of the year

Telling time (es la, son las)

Verbs of liking (me gusta)

Plural agreement with verbs of liking (gustan)

Degree modifiers (muy, mucho)

Formal address (usted, ustedes)

Direct object pronouns (lo, la, los, las)

The near future (ir a)

Obligation (tener que)

Present continuous (-ando, -iendo)

Affirmative commands (tú, vosotros)

Basic Food and Drink

The Human Body: Head and Arms

The Human Body: Legs and Health

Wardrobe Essentials

Fresh Produce

Meals and Proteins

Public Transport

Hello and goodbye (hola, ¿qué tal?)

Thank you, sorry, OK (gracias, vale)

There is, there are (hay)

My building (la escalera, el ascensor)

Describing people (moreno, rubio, tímido)

Land and sea (el mar, el río, el norte)

Sightseeing (la plaza, la catedral)

Asking the way (cerca, a la derecha, todo recto)

In class (¿puedes repetir?)

Verb + infinitive (quiero comer, sé leer)

What's your name? (me llamo, encantado)

Phone, computer and email

Hundreds and thousands (doscientos, mil)

What do you do? (¿a qué te dedicas?)

Personal details (la edad, la fecha de nacimiento)

Me neither (también, tampoco, ni)

How much is it? (el precio, la vuelta)

What's the weather like? (hace sol, nieva)

Free time (el concierto, el tenis)

At the bar (¿qué vas a tomar?)

The Natural World

Demonstratives (este, ese, aquel)

Prepositions of place (encima de, debajo de)

Prepositional pronouns (para mí, contigo)

Ordinal numbers 1st to 10th (primero to décimo)

Adverbs of frequency (a veces, nunca)

Exclamations (¡qué...!)

Indefinite pronouns (algo, alguien)

Indefinite determiners (algún, ningún)

Indirect object pronouns (le, les)

Double object pronouns (me lo, te la)

Double object pronouns (se lo, se la)

Verbs of preference (encantar, interesar)

Impersonal obligation (hay que)

Starting and finishing actions (empezar a, terminar de)

Adjective comparatives (más que, menos que)

Comparatives of equality (tan como)

Noun comparatives (tanto como)

Question	Answer
Suddenly, the door opened.	De repente, se abrió la puerta.
The window blew shut in the wind.	La ventana se cerró con el viento.
The light went out last night.	Anoche se apagó la luz.
The living room lights came on.	Se encendieron las luces del salón.
The glass broke when it fell to the floor.	El vaso se rompió al caer al suelo.
Luis opened the window and the door closed.	Luis abrió la ventana y se cerró la puerta.
I didn't break the glass; it broke.	Yo no he roto el vaso; se ha roto.
I have forgotten your name.	Se me ha olvidado tu nombre.
Have you guys lost something?	¿Se os ha perdido algo?
You have dropped something.	Se te ha caído algo.
My father always forgets the keys.	A mi padre siempre se le olvidan las llaves.
We have run out of milk.	Se nos ha acabado la leche.
The book? I gave it to Ana yesterday.	¿El libro? Se lo di a Ana ayer.
The keys? I have left them with the neighbor (female).	¿Las llaves? Se las he dejado a la vecina.
Have you told your mother?	¿Se lo has dicho a tu madre?
The bike? I have already given it back to Luis.	¿La bici? Ya se la he devuelto a Luis.
Tomorrow I'll explain it to my parents.	Mañana se lo explico a mis padres.

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