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Anoche se apagó la luz.

Anoche se apagó la luz.
The light went out last night.
From Lesson 361:More about se (se abrió la puerta, se lo di a Ana)·Spanish (Spain)

Questions & Answers about Anoche se apagó la luz.

Why do we need the word se here? Couldn't I just say Anoche apagó la luz?
The verb apagar means to turn off. If you drop the se, the sentence Anoche apagó la luz means that he, she, or you formal turned off the light. Using the pronominal form apagarse changes the meaning to an action that happens by itself, so se apagó translates to it went out or it turned itself off.
Why is la luz placed after the verb instead of at the beginning of the sentence?
While you could say Anoche la luz se apagó, putting the subject after the verb is extremely common and natural in Spanish for spontaneous events. When using the spontaneous se, placing the subject at the end puts the focus on the event itself rather than the object.
Does la luz refer to a specific lamp, or does this mean the power went out?
It can mean both! In Spain, la luz is used to refer to a literal light, but it is also the standard way to refer to the electricity or power in a building. To describe a power outage, Spaniards frequently say se apagó la luz or se fue la luz (literally, the light left).

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