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Impersonal
se |
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In English, we
say "You shouldn't smoke.", "They say it's a
nice place.", or "One never knows where they
came from."
We mean people in general. This is what we mean by "impersonal".
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We don't really have anyone specific in mind |
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We use se in front of verbs to
create the Spanish way of making general statements. |
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se is the
subject of the third person singular form of a verb without an
object. |
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 |
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Se dice
que va a llevar otra vez. |
They say it is going to rain again. |
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Aquí se
vive tranquilamente. |
Here people can live peacefully. |
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Se abre
a las ocho. |
It opens at 8:00. |
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Passive
se |
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In English "the
passive voice". |
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Active voice -
when you have a subject doing something with an active verb. |
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Passive voice -
an object having something done to it with or without an
identified subject. |
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In English uses
a form of "to Be" with a Past Participle. |
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No specified
subject. |
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Only conjugated
in the third person singular or plural |
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Use
se + 3rd person singular
form (i.e. form used with Ud., él, ella), if what you are
referring to is singular. |
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Use
se + 3rd person plural form
(i.e. form used with Ud., él, ella), if what you are referring
to is plural. |
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|
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Active voice construction |
Passive voice construction |
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|
Mis
amigos comieron la torta. |
My
friends ate the cake. |
Se comió la torta. |
The cake was eaten by my friends. |
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|
Escribe
los libros en español. |
He
is writing the books in Spanish. |
Se escriben los libros en español. |
The books are written in Spanish. |
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The Passive
Voice, se + the third
person singular or plural of a verb, can be used to say that
something is done, without saying who does it. The verb
agrees in number with the noun receiving the action. |
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Se sirve Pepsi aquí. |
Pepsi is served here. |
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Se encuentran muchas cosas en el centro comercial. |
Many thiings |
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The Passive
Voice, se + the third person
singular or plural of a verb, can be used to say what is or
isn't allowed. |
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|
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Se prohibe comer en esta clase. |
Eating is not allowed in this class. |
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Se permite nadar de la una a las cinco de la tarde. |
Swimming is allowed from 1:00 to 5:00 P.M. |
