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Spanish (Spain)

When you drop your passport or lose your luggage, it is nice not to take the full blame. In Spanish, you can use the **accidental se** construction to describe unintentional events, suggesting that the accident just happened *to* you.

The structure is: **se** + **indirect object pronoun** (**me**, **te**, **le**, **nos**, **os**, **les**) + **verb**.

In this construction, the person involved is the indirect object. The grammatical *subject* of the sentence is the item involved in the mishap, so the verb is always conjugated in the **third person singular or plural** to agree with the item.

To clarify who the indirect object is—especially with **le** or **les**—you can add **a** + [person].

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You will hear this structure used frequently with verbs for clumsy mishaps, such as spilling (*derramar*), staining (*manchar*), breaking (*romper*), or burning (*quemar*).

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If the item involved in the accident is plural, the verb must also be plural.

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The accidental se (se me...)

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
the customs	la aduana
the visa	el visado
At customs, the tourist forgot his visa.	En la aduana, al turista se le olvidó el visado.
Tomorrow I am going to the airport, but I don't have the visa.	Mañana voy al aeropuerto, pero no tengo el visado.
the layover	la escala
During the layover, our luggage got lost.	Durante la escala, se nos ha perdido el equipaje.
After the layover, I will have to buy a coffee.	Después de la escala, tendré que comprar un café.
to check in (luggage)	facturar
You have to check in your luggage before the flight.	Tienes que facturar tu equipaje antes del vuelo.
Before checking in, I dropped my passport.	Antes de facturar, se me ha caído el pasaporte.
to spill	derramar
My coffee spilled at the airport.	Se me ha derramado el café en el aeropuerto.
When I travel, I always lose the ticket.	Cuando viajo, siempre pierdo el billete.
to stain	manchar
My shirt got stained with coffee.	Se me ha manchado la camisa de café.
Without a napkin, you will stain the table.	Sin una servilleta, mancharás la mesa.
to burn	quemar
The girl's dinner burned because of the call.	A la chica se le quemó la cena por la llamada.
I think that you are going to burn the jacket with that.	Me parece que vas a quemar la chaqueta con eso.
to misplace	extraviar
Their documents got misplaced at customs.	En la aduana se les han extraviado los documentos.
I think that I have misplaced my passport again.	Creo que he vuelto a extraviar mi pasaporte.
the liquid	el líquido
I dropped the liquid on the floor.	Se me ha caído el líquido al suelo.
I want to drink something, but I don't have any soda.	Quiero beber algo, pero no tengo ningún refresco.
the boarding	el embarque
The boarding was delayed because of the rain.	El embarque se retrasó por la lluvia.
My suitcase broke during the boarding.	Se me rompió la maleta durante el embarque.
Yesterday the boy spilled the liquid.	Ayer al niño se le derramó el líquido.
Today my boss spilled the coffee.	Hoy a mi jefa se le ha derramado el café.
lost	perdido
Excuse me, can you help me? I am lost.	Perdone, ¿me ayuda? Estoy perdido.
We have found a lost dog at the airport.	Hemos encontrado un perro perdido en el aeropuerto.
The lost suitcase has arrived today.	La maleta perdida ha llegado hoy.

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