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Here is a short video with an explanation of how to use the impersonal se as well as how to convert some things from the impersonal context in English to Spanish.

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Impersonal Se | Introduction to 'Se' in Spanish

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This video was helpful to me as it took time to explain the background of why we are using se in a particular way while proving in depth explanations of the translatiosn presented.

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How to use "se" in spanish - the most confusing word

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This video provides good examples of how to use the impersonal se with different types of verbs.

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how to use se impersonal in spanish - Search Videos

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I found this website useful because not only does it go over the impersonal use of "se" in Spanish but it also shows you examples of, other, ways in which to use "se" (passive se, se + transitive verb + personal a). While the focus for this week is on the impersonal use of "se" this website allows you to see the other uses when impersonal would not apply and help you to better understand the use of impersonal "se" in Spanish versus the others.

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Se is used in lots of different scenarios in Spanish, for example, we see it in reflexive verbs.

In this lesson, we'll show you three other ways to use it: Passive se, se + transitive verb + personal a, and impersonal se.

You may have heard people talk about the passive voice. It's pretty much the opposite of the active voice. We use the passive when we want to focus on what's being done, rather than who's doing it.

In passive constructions, the object of a verb (the thing that's having something done to it) becomes the subject (the main focus of the sentence). The formula is:
Noun + ser + past participle
For example, in the following sentences, the ball ( la pelota) and the documents ( los documentos) go from being the object to being the subject.

We now have the option to say who did it, using the word por:
Los documentos fueron firmados por Carmen.
But that's totally optional-the documents are more important than Carmen in this passive sentence.

BEWARE: overuse of this construction can seem unnatural to native speakers, so sometimes you'll need to avoid it. That's where this article comes in...

The first method is the passive se.

Here are the rules for using the passive se:

*A transitive verb is a verb that's followed by a direct object, i.e. something that the verb acts upon. For example, I fed the cat; I watch TV; I love my wife.An intransitive verb is a verb that's not followed by a direct object, e.g. I lied, I swim, I skate.

*This kind of exclamation is common in parents scolding their children!

2. Se + transitive verb + personal a ('se' + verbo transitivo + 'a' personal)

Sometimes, with transitive verbs, things can get confusing. If we tried to use the passive se before a living thing, people might mistakenly think we were using a reflexive se or a reciprocal se. For example:

Poor people treat each other well. (Reciprocal se.)

Poor people are treated well. (Passive se!)

To help with this, a kind of hybrid of the passive se and impersonal se has developed. We use the word se, followed by a transitive verb in the third person singular form, then add the personal a and the person(s) having the action done to them:

This construction is similar to the passive se, and has pretty much the same meaning. The difference is that the verb is followed by the personal a, it's a human (or an animal) that's having something done to it, and it's only ever used in the singular. It's similar to the impersonal se (see below) in that we don't know/care who's doing the action. Here are the rules:

It's used with transitive verbs followed by the personal a.

3. Impersonal se ('se' impersonal)

The impersonal se is used to outline things that people in general do. Here's more detail:

It can be used with a transitive verb, but missing out the direct object.

It can be used with an intransitive verb.

It can be used with a copulative verb. A copulative verb is a special type of verb. Two of the main ones are ser (to be) and estar (to be).

We know there's a lottt to take in here. It might help to look at the three constructions side-by-side.

There is an agent (who does the action) but it's not mentioned.

There is a human agent (who does the action) but it's not mentioned.

No specific agent. People in general.

Transitive verbs.

Transitive verbs.

Transitive verbs without specifying the direct object.
Intransitive verbs.
Copulative verbs.

The thing that's having something done to it is inanimate.

The person having stuff done to them is human.

Not applicable.

Singular or plural.

Singular.

Singular.

Let's try a little test. These are tricky, even for native Spanish-speakers, so just give them a go! Say whether the se used in the construction is the passive se, the se + transitive + a, or the impersonal se.

2. Los coches se vendieron en poco tiempo. (The cars sold out in no time.)

3. Se busca casa con dos cuartos. (Seeking: two-bedroom house/a two-bedroom house is being looked for.)

4. Se duerme mejor en una cama cómoda. (One sleeps better on a comfy bed.)

5. No se paga mal a Francisco. (Francisco isn't paid badly.)

6. No me gusta esta discoteca. ¿Quién puede bailar cuando se está rodeado de borrachos? I don't like this club. Who can dance when you're surrounded by drunk people?

All this se stuff can get super confusing, so don't worry if you don't fully get it. By practicing little and often, you should start to notice the kinds of sentences where it's used. ¡Suerte!

For more lessons like this, don't forget to subscribe to My Daily Spanish newsletter!

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The Passive Se and Impersonal Se in Spanish

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Se is used in lots of different scenarios in Spanish, for example, we see it in reflexive verbs . In this lesson, we'll show you three other ways to use it: Passive se, se + transitive verb + personal a, and impersonal se. You may have heard people talk about the passive voice.

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I like how detailed this article is.

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The Spanish Learning Club | Spanish Courses Online | Study Spanish Easy

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How to use SE in Spanish: the impersonal and passive voice

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How to use “se” in Spanish can be hard to understand. This article will focus on impersonal and passive expressions that use “se”.

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Spanish Academy is a great resource for learning the impersonal "se". I learned their are 3 types of uses with "se". It gives lots of different examples and helps you on how to use it.

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There is something in Spanish called the impersonal form or the impersonal se expression. You may have never heard of it before, but I'm here to tell you that this is one of those useful expressions that once you master them, they make your life easier in the language.

Keep reading to learn everything you need to know about the impersonal se form, what it is and what it means, as well as how it differentiates from other uses of the se pronoun, and how to use it.

¿Qué es la Forma Impersonal Se?

"What is the impersonal se form?" The forma impersonal se or "impersonal se form" is a grammar construction that comes very handy when you aren't sure about who is performing the action in a sentence. You do this quite often when talking about general things that we all do.

In English, you would say things like "one should," "you have to," "people say," or "they ask for."

In Spanish, you have it to help you solve all these sentences and you use it with a third person singular verb. However, before starting with the sentence structure and grammar formulas, I want to explore a little bit deeper the meaning of this construction.

What Does It Mean?

As stated above, you can use this form to make general observations about what people do.

A few examples will help to explain this better:

In English, you have "one," "you," and "they" as subjects for this type of sentence, but there's no equivalent in Spanish. The reason you have to use impersonal se constructions is precisely because these expressions lack a subject-that's why they're "impersonal."

Comparing the Impersonal Se

One of the main issues with the impersonal se form is that there are as many as 3 other constructions that also use the word se as their main feature:

Let's compare and contrast the impersonal se with each of them.

Impersonal Se vs Passive Se

In Spanish, you can build the passive voice using the pronoun se, this is known as the "passive se." The problem to differentiate these two se constructions is that they both have a similar formula:

Se + verb conjugated in third person

However, you can differentiate passive and impersonal se sentences looking at the number-the impersonal se sentences only use the singular, never the plural.

Also, impersonal se constructions never have a specific noun doing the action, while that's not always the case with the passive se.

Look at the following passive se sentence example:

Notice how the sentence includes a noun (los niños) doing the action, and how it's using the plural too. An impersonal se sentence wouldn't have any of those two elements:

The sentence example is singular and you don't have a specific noun doing the action. In Spanish, we don't know who's selling this house.

Impersonal Se vs Accidental Se

Use the accidental se to express that something happened by accident or unexpectedly. You can better understand this construction by looking at the way you say this in English:

When you read this example in English, you know that "you" are the subject of blame and that it was an accident. In Spanish, you don't need to be so specific and can simply say:

Notice how the use of the pronoun te communicates the idea that it was tú or "you" who spilled the milk. That's the difference with the impersonal se with which you never know who is doing the action.

Impersonal Se vs Reflexive Se

The reflexive se is a reflexive pronoun that works with the second person singular and plural, and with all the versions of the third person singular and plural.

The reflexive pronoun se plays the same role as the English words "yourself" (formal), "yourselves" (formal), "himself," "herself," "itself," "themselves," and "each other."

On the other hand, el pronombre impersonal se only works with the third person singular and you can only use it to talk about general things people do, without specifying who is doing them.

How to Use It

Remember that to form an impersonal se expression you have to conjugate your verb in the third person singular. This way, the formula is:

Examples:

In Questions

You can also use it in different questions that include the question words qué (what), cómo (how), dónde (where), cuándo (when), and por qué (why).

Practice Time!

These expressions are very useful to talk about things in general and when you don't know or don't want to mention who is doing the action. The formula is quite simple and all you need to do now is remember to practice your impersonal se expressions and start introducing them in your everyday conversations in Spanish.

Sign up for a free class with one of our certified, native Spanish-speaking teachers from Guatemala and start using personal se expressions in Spanish today. They teach more than 24,000 actively enrolled students every month and have been providing reliable service to Spanish learners for more than 10 years.

Ready to learn more Spanish grammar? Check these out!

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There is something in Spanish called the impersonal form or the impersonal se expression. You may have never heard of it before, but I'm here to tell you that this is one of those useful expressions that once you master them, they make your life easier in the language.

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This article is pretty helpful - it describes when to use the impersonal se, has a video you can watch, and also goes over other uses of se like reflexive and accidental.

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Get our free email course, Shortcut to Conversational.

Have conversations faster, understand people when they speak fast, and other tested tips to learn faster.

It's likely that you have used the impersonal se in Spanish at some point before, even if you aren't quite sure what it is.

The impersonal se is used when there is no clear subject performing the action, which is often the case when we make a general statement i.e. it's impersonal. For example, when we talk about general things that people do, we'll often say something like: one must, you have to, people say, they require.

This is not to be confused with the reflexive se or the accidental se in Spanish, which uses the same se pronoun, but for different actions.

the reflexive pronoun se is used to indicate that an action is being performed by the same subject who receives the effects of that action.

the accidental se is used to imply that something happened by accident or unintentionally.

Let's take a look at a couple of examples to see the differences between how these se pronouns are used differently.
Reflexive SE

He gets (himself) dressed every morning after taking a shower - Él se viste todas las mañanas luego de tomar una ducha

They got lost in Japan trying to find the hotel - Ellas/Ellos se perdieron en Japón tratando de encontrar el hotel
Impersonal SE

Mecatronic specialists are needed - Se necesitan especialistas en mecatrónica

When To Use The Impersonal SE In Spanish

Back to the impersonal se, and how we form impersonal sentences.

Before we continue, now is a good time to mention something that causes confusion for many Spanish students - the passive se.

While this is different from the impersonal se, both have the same purpose - to substitute the subject of a sentence with se.

As we mentioned before, impersonal se sentences are used to describe an action, without referring to a specific person. It's important to remember that these impersonal sentences are always formed with a verb conjugated in the third person singular.

Patients are attended by appointments - Se atiende a los pacientes por citas

It's getting late, let's go! - ¡Se hace tarde, vámonos!

It's better to sleep with cold than with hot weather - Se duerme mejor con frío que con calor

However, the passive se is generally used to talk about something that happened to an object, without saying who or what carried out the action, and it will generally refer to objects, not people.

DNA has been studied for a long time - El ADN se ha estudiado por mucho tiempo

Forming Impersonal Sentences

The number one rule to remember for forming the impersonal se sentences is that they are always formed with singular verbs.

Here is a simple formula to remember how to form these sentences:

SE + VERB (3rd person singular) + COMPLEMENT

In the next section, we'll list the most commonly used verbs with impersonal sentences.

1) Copulative verbs

These verbs express a state or condition but need to be accompanied by something else that gives them full meaning.

The most commonly used verbs are.
Examples:

It became very complicated to travel as a backpacker - Se volvió muy complicado viajar como mochilero

Being in that Spa is very good - Se está muy bien en ese spa

Looks like an old painting - Se parece a una pintura vieja

In winter it gets dark very fast - En invierno se pone oscuro muy rápido

You do what you can - Se hace lo que se puede

Suddenly the weather got ugly - De repente el clima se puso feo

2) Intransitive Verbs

These verbs do not require a direct object, and are often (not always) used to form one-word sentences.
Examples:

It opens at 7am and closes at 9pm - Se abre a las 7am y se cierra a las 9pm

If you don't like this house, look for another one - Si no te gusta esta casa, se busca otra

You give without asking anything in return - Se da sin pedir nada a cambio

It takes courage - Se necesita valor

Many people were interviewed today - Se entrevistó a muchas personas hoy

People eat very well in the restaurant of that hotel - Se come muy sabroso en el restaurante de ese hotel

3) Transitive verbs

These verbs require more complements or "arguments" in the sentence, otherwise, they won't make sense.

Let's see an example of what happens without a complement when we use the transitive verb "ofrecer", which means "to offer".

Is offered - Se ofrece (hmmm what is being offered - why don't know!?)

Accommodation is offered - Se ofrece alojamiento (ah, makes sense)

As you can see, transitive verbs require extra information to make sense.

Below are the most common transitive verbs you'll likely use with the passive se in Spanish.
Examples:

You live better when you're happy - Se vive mejor cuando eres feliz

The rehearsal starts at 9am - Se comienza a ensayar a las 9am

In that hostel, you sleep well - En ese hostal se duerme muy bien

I love this place, the air you breathe is brand new - Me encanta este lugar, se respira un aire nuevo

You laugh like crazy watching the play - Se ríe como loco viendo esa obra de teatro

Break time is over - Se terminó la hora de descanso

The Impersonal SE in Spanish: Exercises

Test your knowledge of the impersonal se by trying to form the impersonal sentences:

Se _____ que hará mucho calor (It is said that it will be very hot tomorrow)

Se _____ mejor cuando hay silencio (You sleep better when there is silence)

No me gusta esta habitación, ____ _____ todo el ruido (I don't like this room, all the noise is heard)

Se _____ mesoneros (Help wanted)

Se escucha esa canción en todas las emisoras (That song is heard on all stations)

Este fin de semana se _____ (This weekend you must attend work)

Answers

Se dice que hará mucho calor

Se duerme mejor cuando hay silencio

No me gusta esta habitación, se oye todo el ruido

Se buscan mesoneros

Se escucha esa canción en todas las emisoras

Este fin de semana se trabaja

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Learn what you need to know about the impersonal se in Spanish, and how it's used when we want to make statements about actions that people generally do.

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First off, this resource distinguishes the impersonal "se" from other forms of "se" which is really helpful. This article is great at explaining the use of the impersonal "se". It goes over many different types of verbs and how the verbs and the impersonal "se" are used. It also includes an embedded video for greater understanding.

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Get our free email course, Shortcut to Conversational.

Have conversations faster, understand people when they speak fast, and other tested tips to learn faster.

It's likely that you have used the impersonal se in Spanish at some point before, even if you aren't quite sure what it is.

The impersonal se is used when there is no clear subject performing the action, which is often the case when we make a general statement i.e. it's impersonal. For example, when we talk about general things that people do, we'll often say something like: one must, you have to, people say, they require.

This is not to be confused with the reflexive se or the accidental se in Spanish, which uses the same se pronoun, but for different actions.

the reflexive pronoun se is used to indicate that an action is being performed by the same subject who receives the effects of that action.

the accidental se is used to imply that something happened by accident or unintentionally.

Let's take a look at a couple of examples to see the differences between how these se pronouns are used differently.
Reflexive SE

He gets (himself) dressed every morning after taking a shower - Él se viste todas las mañanas luego de tomar una ducha

They got lost in Japan trying to find the hotel - Ellas/Ellos se perdieron en Japón tratando de encontrar el hotel
Impersonal SE

Mecatronic specialists are needed - Se necesitan especialistas en mecatrónica

When To Use The Impersonal SE In Spanish

Back to the impersonal se, and how we form impersonal sentences.

Before we continue, now is a good time to mention something that causes confusion for many Spanish students - the passive se.

While this is different from the impersonal se, both have the same purpose - to substitute the subject of a sentence with se.

As we mentioned before, impersonal se sentences are used to describe an action, without referring to a specific person. It's important to remember that these impersonal sentences are always formed with a verb conjugated in the third person singular.

Patients are attended by appointments - Se atiende a los pacientes por citas

It's getting late, let's go! - ¡Se hace tarde, vámonos!

It's better to sleep with cold than with hot weather - Se duerme mejor con frío que con calor

However, the passive se is generally used to talk about something that happened to an object, without saying who or what carried out the action, and it will generally refer to objects, not people.

DNA has been studied for a long time - El ADN se ha estudiado por mucho tiempo

Forming Impersonal Sentences

The number one rule to remember for forming the impersonal se sentences is that they are always formed with singular verbs.

Here is a simple formula to remember how to form these sentences:

SE + VERB (3rd person singular) + COMPLEMENT

In the next section, we'll list the most commonly used verbs with impersonal sentences.

1) Copulative verbs

These verbs express a state or condition but need to be accompanied by something else that gives them full meaning.

The most commonly used verbs are.
Examples:

It became very complicated to travel as a backpacker - Se volvió muy complicado viajar como mochilero

Being in that Spa is very good - Se está muy bien en ese spa

Looks like an old painting - Se parece a una pintura vieja

In winter it gets dark very fast - En invierno se pone oscuro muy rápido

You do what you can - Se hace lo que se puede

Suddenly the weather got ugly - De repente el clima se puso feo

2) Intransitive Verbs

These verbs do not require a direct object, and are often (not always) used to form one-word sentences.
Examples:

It opens at 7am and closes at 9pm - Se abre a las 7am y se cierra a las 9pm

If you don't like this house, look for another one - Si no te gusta esta casa, se busca otra

You give without asking anything in return - Se da sin pedir nada a cambio

It takes courage - Se necesita valor

Many people were interviewed today - Se entrevistó a muchas personas hoy

People eat very well in the restaurant of that hotel - Se come muy sabroso en el restaurante de ese hotel

3) Transitive verbs

These verbs require more complements or "arguments" in the sentence, otherwise, they won't make sense.

Let's see an example of what happens without a complement when we use the transitive verb "ofrecer", which means "to offer".

Is offered - Se ofrece (hmmm what is being offered - why don't know!?)

Accommodation is offered - Se ofrece alojamiento (ah, makes sense)

As you can see, transitive verbs require extra information to make sense.

Below are the most common transitive verbs you'll likely use with the passive se in Spanish.
Examples:

You live better when you're happy - Se vive mejor cuando eres feliz

The rehearsal starts at 9am - Se comienza a ensayar a las 9am

In that hostel, you sleep well - En ese hostal se duerme muy bien

I love this place, the air you breathe is brand new - Me encanta este lugar, se respira un aire nuevo

You laugh like crazy watching the play - Se ríe como loco viendo esa obra de teatro

Break time is over - Se terminó la hora de descanso

The Impersonal SE in Spanish: Exercises

Test your knowledge of the impersonal se by trying to form the impersonal sentences:

Se _____ que hará mucho calor (It is said that it will be very hot tomorrow)

Se _____ mejor cuando hay silencio (You sleep better when there is silence)

No me gusta esta habitación, ____ _____ todo el ruido (I don't like this room, all the noise is heard)

Se _____ mesoneros (Help wanted)

Se escucha esa canción en todas las emisoras (That song is heard on all stations)

Este fin de semana se _____ (This weekend you must attend work)

Answers

Se dice que hará mucho calor

Se duerme mejor cuando hay silencio

No me gusta esta habitación, se oye todo el ruido

Se buscan mesoneros

Se escucha esa canción en todas las emisoras

Este fin de semana se trabaja

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Learn what you need to know about the impersonal se in Spanish, and how it's used when we want to make statements about actions that people generally do.

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My daily Spanish has lots of examples and explains the different forms and when to use them.
https://mydailyspanish.com/passive-se-impersonal-se/

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Se is used in lots of different scenarios in Spanish, for example, we see it in reflexive verbs.

In this lesson, we'll show you three other ways to use it: Passive se, se + transitive verb + personal a, and impersonal se.

You may have heard people talk about the passive voice. It's pretty much the opposite of the active voice. We use the passive when we want to focus on what's being done, rather than who's doing it.

In passive constructions, the object of a verb (the thing that's having something done to it) becomes the subject (the main focus of the sentence). The formula is:
Noun + ser + past participle
For example, in the following sentences, the ball ( la pelota) and the documents ( los documentos) go from being the object to being the subject.

We now have the option to say who did it, using the word por:
Los documentos fueron firmados por Carmen.
But that's totally optional-the documents are more important than Carmen in this passive sentence.

BEWARE: overuse of this construction can seem unnatural to native speakers, so sometimes you'll need to avoid it. That's where this article comes in...

The first method is the passive se.

Here are the rules for using the passive se:

*A transitive verb is a verb that's followed by a direct object, i.e. something that the verb acts upon. For example, I fed the cat; I watch TV; I love my wife.An intransitive verb is a verb that's not followed by a direct object, e.g. I lied, I swim, I skate.

*This kind of exclamation is common in parents scolding their children!

2. Se + transitive verb + personal a ('se' + verbo transitivo + 'a' personal)

Sometimes, with transitive verbs, things can get confusing. If we tried to use the passive se before a living thing, people might mistakenly think we were using a reflexive se or a reciprocal se. For example:

Poor people treat each other well. (Reciprocal se.)

Poor people are treated well. (Passive se!)

To help with this, a kind of hybrid of the passive se and impersonal se has developed. We use the word se, followed by a transitive verb in the third person singular form, then add the personal a and the person(s) having the action done to them:

This construction is similar to the passive se, and has pretty much the same meaning. The difference is that the verb is followed by the personal a, it's a human (or an animal) that's having something done to it, and it's only ever used in the singular. It's similar to the impersonal se (see below) in that we don't know/care who's doing the action. Here are the rules:

It's used with transitive verbs followed by the personal a.

3. Impersonal se ('se' impersonal)

The impersonal se is used to outline things that people in general do. Here's more detail:

It can be used with a transitive verb, but missing out the direct object.

It can be used with an intransitive verb.

It can be used with a copulative verb. A copulative verb is a special type of verb. Two of the main ones are ser (to be) and estar (to be).

We know there's a lottt to take in here. It might help to look at the three constructions side-by-side.

There is an agent (who does the action) but it's not mentioned.

There is a human agent (who does the action) but it's not mentioned.

No specific agent. People in general.

Transitive verbs.

Transitive verbs.

Transitive verbs without specifying the direct object.
Intransitive verbs.
Copulative verbs.

The thing that's having something done to it is inanimate.

The person having stuff done to them is human.

Not applicable.

Singular or plural.

Singular.

Singular.

Let's try a little test. These are tricky, even for native Spanish-speakers, so just give them a go! Say whether the se used in the construction is the passive se, the se + transitive + a, or the impersonal se.

2. Los coches se vendieron en poco tiempo. (The cars sold out in no time.)

3. Se busca casa con dos cuartos. (Seeking: two-bedroom house/a two-bedroom house is being looked for.)

4. Se duerme mejor en una cama cómoda. (One sleeps better on a comfy bed.)

5. No se paga mal a Francisco. (Francisco isn't paid badly.)

6. No me gusta esta discoteca. ¿Quién puede bailar cuando se está rodeado de borrachos? I don't like this club. Who can dance when you're surrounded by drunk people?

All this se stuff can get super confusing, so don't worry if you don't fully get it. By practicing little and often, you should start to notice the kinds of sentences where it's used. ¡Suerte!

For more lessons like this, don't forget to subscribe to My Daily Spanish newsletter!

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The Passive Se and Impersonal Se in Spanish

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Se is used in lots of different scenarios in Spanish, for example, we see it in reflexive verbs . In this lesson, we'll show you three other ways to use it: Passive se, se + transitive verb + personal a, and impersonal se. You may have heard people talk about the passive voice.

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SpanishDict is an excellent resource for learning how to conjugate and whatnot. It gives a list of ways the impersonal "se" is used in Spanish and the formula for how to use it.

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While the above English translations contain one, they, or you, there is no obvious grammatical subject in Spanish. This lack of an obvious subject is a key part of impersonal se constructions; it's what makes them impersonal!

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While the above English translations contain one, they, or you, there is no obvious grammatical subject in Spanish. This lack of an obvious subject is a key part of impersonal se constructions; it's what makes them impersonal!

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This resource breaks down every part of using the impersonal "se" in Spanish. It starts with a section on what it is, and moves into comparing the impersonal "se" to other forms of "se".

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There is something in Spanish called the impersonal form or the impersonal se expression. You may have never heard of it before, but I'm here to tell you that this is one of those useful expressions that once you master them, they make your life easier in the language.

Keep reading to learn everything you need to know about the impersonal se form, what it is and what it means, as well as how it differentiates from other uses of the se pronoun, and how to use it.

¿Qué es la Forma Impersonal Se?

"What is the impersonal se form?" The forma impersonal se or "impersonal se form" is a grammar construction that comes very handy when you aren't sure about who is performing the action in a sentence. You do this quite often when talking about general things that we all do.

In English, you would say things like "one should," "you have to," "people say," or "they ask for."

In Spanish, you have it to help you solve all these sentences and you use it with a third person singular verb. However, before starting with the sentence structure and grammar formulas, I want to explore a little bit deeper the meaning of this construction.

What Does It Mean?

As stated above, you can use this form to make general observations about what people do.

A few examples will help to explain this better:

In English, you have "one," "you," and "they" as subjects for this type of sentence, but there's no equivalent in Spanish. The reason you have to use impersonal se constructions is precisely because these expressions lack a subject-that's why they're "impersonal."

Comparing the Impersonal Se

One of the main issues with the impersonal se form is that there are as many as 3 other constructions that also use the word se as their main feature:

Let's compare and contrast the impersonal se with each of them.

Impersonal Se vs Passive Se

In Spanish, you can build the passive voice using the pronoun se, this is known as the "passive se." The problem to differentiate these two se constructions is that they both have a similar formula:

Se + verb conjugated in third person

However, you can differentiate passive and impersonal se sentences looking at the number-the impersonal se sentences only use the singular, never the plural.

Also, impersonal se constructions never have a specific noun doing the action, while that's not always the case with the passive se.

Look at the following passive se sentence example:

Notice how the sentence includes a noun (los niños) doing the action, and how it's using the plural too. An impersonal se sentence wouldn't have any of those two elements:

The sentence example is singular and you don't have a specific noun doing the action. In Spanish, we don't know who's selling this house.

Impersonal Se vs Accidental Se

Use the accidental se to express that something happened by accident or unexpectedly. You can better understand this construction by looking at the way you say this in English:

When you read this example in English, you know that "you" are the subject of blame and that it was an accident. In Spanish, you don't need to be so specific and can simply say:

Notice how the use of the pronoun te communicates the idea that it was tú or "you" who spilled the milk. That's the difference with the impersonal se with which you never know who is doing the action.

Impersonal Se vs Reflexive Se

The reflexive se is a reflexive pronoun that works with the second person singular and plural, and with all the versions of the third person singular and plural.

The reflexive pronoun se plays the same role as the English words "yourself" (formal), "yourselves" (formal), "himself," "herself," "itself," "themselves," and "each other."

On the other hand, el pronombre impersonal se only works with the third person singular and you can only use it to talk about general things people do, without specifying who is doing them.

How to Use It

Remember that to form an impersonal se expression you have to conjugate your verb in the third person singular. This way, the formula is:

Examples:

In Questions

You can also use it in different questions that include the question words qué (what), cómo (how), dónde (where), cuándo (when), and por qué (why).

Practice Time!

These expressions are very useful to talk about things in general and when you don't know or don't want to mention who is doing the action. The formula is quite simple and all you need to do now is remember to practice your impersonal se expressions and start introducing them in your everyday conversations in Spanish.

Sign up for a free class with one of our certified, native Spanish-speaking teachers from Guatemala and start using personal se expressions in Spanish today. They teach more than 24,000 actively enrolled students every month and have been providing reliable service to Spanish learners for more than 10 years.

Ready to learn more Spanish grammar? Check these out!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
There is something in Spanish called the impersonal form or the impersonal se expression. You may have never heard of it before, but I'm here to tell you that this is one of those useful expressions that once you master them, they make your life easier in the language.

# data[].attributes.body
I like this site because it explains impersonal se but also other versions of se so it's easier to understand the difference and use it correctly. They explain impersonal but also accidental and reflexive as well.

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There is something in Spanish called the impersonal form or the impersonal se expression. You may have never heard of it before, but I'm here to tell you that this is one of those useful expressions that once you master them, they make your life easier in the language.

Keep reading to learn everything you need to know about the impersonal se form, what it is and what it means, as well as how it differentiates from other uses of the se pronoun, and how to use it.

¿Qué es la Forma Impersonal Se?

"What is the impersonal se form?" The forma impersonal se or "impersonal se form" is a grammar construction that comes very handy when you aren't sure about who is performing the action in a sentence. You do this quite often when talking about general things that we all do.

In English, you would say things like "one should," "you have to," "people say," or "they ask for."

In Spanish, you have it to help you solve all these sentences and you use it with a third person singular verb. However, before starting with the sentence structure and grammar formulas, I want to explore a little bit deeper the meaning of this construction.

What Does It Mean?

As stated above, you can use this form to make general observations about what people do.

A few examples will help to explain this better:

In English, you have "one," "you," and "they" as subjects for this type of sentence, but there's no equivalent in Spanish. The reason you have to use impersonal se constructions is precisely because these expressions lack a subject-that's why they're "impersonal."

Comparing the Impersonal Se

One of the main issues with the impersonal se form is that there are as many as 3 other constructions that also use the word se as their main feature:

Let's compare and contrast the impersonal se with each of them.

Impersonal Se vs Passive Se

In Spanish, you can build the passive voice using the pronoun se, this is known as the "passive se." The problem to differentiate these two se constructions is that they both have a similar formula:

Se + verb conjugated in third person

However, you can differentiate passive and impersonal se sentences looking at the number-the impersonal se sentences only use the singular, never the plural.

Also, impersonal se constructions never have a specific noun doing the action, while that's not always the case with the passive se.

Look at the following passive se sentence example:

Notice how the sentence includes a noun (los niños) doing the action, and how it's using the plural too. An impersonal se sentence wouldn't have any of those two elements:

The sentence example is singular and you don't have a specific noun doing the action. In Spanish, we don't know who's selling this house.

Impersonal Se vs Accidental Se

Use the accidental se to express that something happened by accident or unexpectedly. You can better understand this construction by looking at the way you say this in English:

When you read this example in English, you know that "you" are the subject of blame and that it was an accident. In Spanish, you don't need to be so specific and can simply say:

Notice how the use of the pronoun te communicates the idea that it was tú or "you" who spilled the milk. That's the difference with the impersonal se with which you never know who is doing the action.

Impersonal Se vs Reflexive Se

The reflexive se is a reflexive pronoun that works with the second person singular and plural, and with all the versions of the third person singular and plural.

The reflexive pronoun se plays the same role as the English words "yourself" (formal), "yourselves" (formal), "himself," "herself," "itself," "themselves," and "each other."

On the other hand, el pronombre impersonal se only works with the third person singular and you can only use it to talk about general things people do, without specifying who is doing them.

How to Use It

Remember that to form an impersonal se expression you have to conjugate your verb in the third person singular. This way, the formula is:

Examples:

In Questions

You can also use it in different questions that include the question words qué (what), cómo (how), dónde (where), cuándo (when), and por qué (why).

Practice Time!

These expressions are very useful to talk about things in general and when you don't know or don't want to mention who is doing the action. The formula is quite simple and all you need to do now is remember to practice your impersonal se expressions and start introducing them in your everyday conversations in Spanish.

Sign up for a free class with one of our certified, native Spanish-speaking teachers from Guatemala and start using personal se expressions in Spanish today. They teach more than 24,000 actively enrolled students every month and have been providing reliable service to Spanish learners for more than 10 years.

Ready to learn more Spanish grammar? Check these out!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
There is something in Spanish called the impersonal form or the impersonal se expression. You may have never heard of it before, but I'm here to tell you that this is one of those useful expressions that once you master them, they make your life easier in the language.

# data[].attributes.body
"se" has a different meaning depending on how it's used.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
There is something in Spanish called the impersonal form or the impersonal se expression. You may have never heard of it before, but I'm here to tell you that this is one of those useful expressions that once you master them, they make your life easier in the language.

Keep reading to learn everything you need to know about the impersonal se form, what it is and what it means, as well as how it differentiates from other uses of the se pronoun, and how to use it.

¿Qué es la Forma Impersonal Se?

"What is the impersonal se form?" The forma impersonal se or "impersonal se form" is a grammar construction that comes very handy when you aren't sure about who is performing the action in a sentence. You do this quite often when talking about general things that we all do.

In English, you would say things like "one should," "you have to," "people say," or "they ask for."

In Spanish, you have it to help you solve all these sentences and you use it with a third person singular verb. However, before starting with the sentence structure and grammar formulas, I want to explore a little bit deeper the meaning of this construction.

What Does It Mean?

As stated above, you can use this form to make general observations about what people do.

A few examples will help to explain this better:

In English, you have "one," "you," and "they" as subjects for this type of sentence, but there's no equivalent in Spanish. The reason you have to use impersonal se constructions is precisely because these expressions lack a subject-that's why they're "impersonal."

Comparing the Impersonal Se

One of the main issues with the impersonal se form is that there are as many as 3 other constructions that also use the word se as their main feature:

Let's compare and contrast the impersonal se with each of them.

Impersonal Se vs Passive Se

In Spanish, you can build the passive voice using the pronoun se, this is known as the "passive se." The problem to differentiate these two se constructions is that they both have a similar formula:

Se + verb conjugated in third person

However, you can differentiate passive and impersonal se sentences looking at the number-the impersonal se sentences only use the singular, never the plural.

Also, impersonal se constructions never have a specific noun doing the action, while that's not always the case with the passive se.

Look at the following passive se sentence example:

Notice how the sentence includes a noun (los niños) doing the action, and how it's using the plural too. An impersonal se sentence wouldn't have any of those two elements:

The sentence example is singular and you don't have a specific noun doing the action. In Spanish, we don't know who's selling this house.

Impersonal Se vs Accidental Se

Use the accidental se to express that something happened by accident or unexpectedly. You can better understand this construction by looking at the way you say this in English:

When you read this example in English, you know that "you" are the subject of blame and that it was an accident. In Spanish, you don't need to be so specific and can simply say:

Notice how the use of the pronoun te communicates the idea that it was tú or "you" who spilled the milk. That's the difference with the impersonal se with which you never know who is doing the action.

Impersonal Se vs Reflexive Se

The reflexive se is a reflexive pronoun that works with the second person singular and plural, and with all the versions of the third person singular and plural.

The reflexive pronoun se plays the same role as the English words "yourself" (formal), "yourselves" (formal), "himself," "herself," "itself," "themselves," and "each other."

On the other hand, el pronombre impersonal se only works with the third person singular and you can only use it to talk about general things people do, without specifying who is doing them.

How to Use It

Remember that to form an impersonal se expression you have to conjugate your verb in the third person singular. This way, the formula is:

Examples:

In Questions

You can also use it in different questions that include the question words qué (what), cómo (how), dónde (where), cuándo (when), and por qué (why).

Practice Time!

These expressions are very useful to talk about things in general and when you don't know or don't want to mention who is doing the action. The formula is quite simple and all you need to do now is remember to practice your impersonal se expressions and start introducing them in your everyday conversations in Spanish.

Sign up for a free class with one of our certified, native Spanish-speaking teachers from Guatemala and start using personal se expressions in Spanish today. They teach more than 24,000 actively enrolled students every month and have been providing reliable service to Spanish learners for more than 10 years.

Ready to learn more Spanish grammar? Check these out!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
There is something in Spanish called the impersonal form or the impersonal se expression. You may have never heard of it before, but I'm here to tell you that this is one of those useful expressions that once you master them, they make your life easier in the language.

# data[].attributes.body
This is a really clear explanation of the use of Se

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
There is something in Spanish called the impersonal form or the impersonal se expression. You may have never heard of it before, but I'm here to tell you that this is one of those useful expressions that once you master them, they make your life easier in the language.

Keep reading to learn everything you need to know about the impersonal se form, what it is and what it means, as well as how it differentiates from other uses of the se pronoun, and how to use it.

¿Qué es la Forma Impersonal Se?

"What is the impersonal se form?" The forma impersonal se or "impersonal se form" is a grammar construction that comes very handy when you aren't sure about who is performing the action in a sentence. You do this quite often when talking about general things that we all do.

In English, you would say things like "one should," "you have to," "people say," or "they ask for."

In Spanish, you have it to help you solve all these sentences and you use it with a third person singular verb. However, before starting with the sentence structure and grammar formulas, I want to explore a little bit deeper the meaning of this construction.

What Does It Mean?

As stated above, you can use this form to make general observations about what people do.

A few examples will help to explain this better:

In English, you have "one," "you," and "they" as subjects for this type of sentence, but there's no equivalent in Spanish. The reason you have to use impersonal se constructions is precisely because these expressions lack a subject-that's why they're "impersonal."

Comparing the Impersonal Se

One of the main issues with the impersonal se form is that there are as many as 3 other constructions that also use the word se as their main feature:

Let's compare and contrast the impersonal se with each of them.

Impersonal Se vs Passive Se

In Spanish, you can build the passive voice using the pronoun se, this is known as the "passive se." The problem to differentiate these two se constructions is that they both have a similar formula:

Se + verb conjugated in third person

However, you can differentiate passive and impersonal se sentences looking at the number-the impersonal se sentences only use the singular, never the plural.

Also, impersonal se constructions never have a specific noun doing the action, while that's not always the case with the passive se.

Look at the following passive se sentence example:

Notice how the sentence includes a noun (los niños) doing the action, and how it's using the plural too. An impersonal se sentence wouldn't have any of those two elements:

The sentence example is singular and you don't have a specific noun doing the action. In Spanish, we don't know who's selling this house.

Impersonal Se vs Accidental Se

Use the accidental se to express that something happened by accident or unexpectedly. You can better understand this construction by looking at the way you say this in English:

When you read this example in English, you know that "you" are the subject of blame and that it was an accident. In Spanish, you don't need to be so specific and can simply say:

Notice how the use of the pronoun te communicates the idea that it was tú or "you" who spilled the milk. That's the difference with the impersonal se with which you never know who is doing the action.

Impersonal Se vs Reflexive Se

The reflexive se is a reflexive pronoun that works with the second person singular and plural, and with all the versions of the third person singular and plural.

The reflexive pronoun se plays the same role as the English words "yourself" (formal), "yourselves" (formal), "himself," "herself," "itself," "themselves," and "each other."

On the other hand, el pronombre impersonal se only works with the third person singular and you can only use it to talk about general things people do, without specifying who is doing them.

How to Use It

Remember that to form an impersonal se expression you have to conjugate your verb in the third person singular. This way, the formula is:

Examples:

In Questions

You can also use it in different questions that include the question words qué (what), cómo (how), dónde (where), cuándo (when), and por qué (why).

Practice Time!

These expressions are very useful to talk about things in general and when you don't know or don't want to mention who is doing the action. The formula is quite simple and all you need to do now is remember to practice your impersonal se expressions and start introducing them in your everyday conversations in Spanish.

Sign up for a free class with one of our certified, native Spanish-speaking teachers from Guatemala and start using personal se expressions in Spanish today. They teach more than 24,000 actively enrolled students every month and have been providing reliable service to Spanish learners for more than 10 years.

Ready to learn more Spanish grammar? Check these out!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
There is something in Spanish called the impersonal form or the impersonal se expression. You may have never heard of it before, but I'm here to tell you that this is one of those useful expressions that once you master them, they make your life easier in the language.

# data[].attributes.body
https://baselang.com/blog/advanced-grammar/the-impersonal-se-in-spanish/

This website shows examples of the use of se in spanish. When to use it when it makes sense, etc. There is also a reflexive and accidental se.

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It's likely that you have used the impersonal se in Spanish at some point before, even if you aren't quite sure what it is.

The impersonal se is used when there is no clear subject performing the action, which is often the case when we make a general statement i.e. it's impersonal. For example, when we talk about general things that people do, we'll often say something like: one must, you have to, people say, they require.

This is not to be confused with the reflexive se or the accidental se in Spanish, which uses the same se pronoun, but for different actions.

the reflexive pronoun se is used to indicate that an action is being performed by the same subject who receives the effects of that action.

the accidental se is used to imply that something happened by accident or unintentionally.

Let's take a look at a couple of examples to see the differences between how these se pronouns are used differently.
Reflexive SE

He gets (himself) dressed every morning after taking a shower - Él se viste todas las mañanas luego de tomar una ducha

They got lost in Japan trying to find the hotel - Ellas/Ellos se perdieron en Japón tratando de encontrar el hotel
Impersonal SE

Mecatronic specialists are needed - Se necesitan especialistas en mecatrónica

When To Use The Impersonal SE In Spanish

Back to the impersonal se, and how we form impersonal sentences.

Before we continue, now is a good time to mention something that causes confusion for many Spanish students - the passive se.

While this is different from the impersonal se, both have the same purpose - to substitute the subject of a sentence with se.

As we mentioned before, impersonal se sentences are used to describe an action, without referring to a specific person. It's important to remember that these impersonal sentences are always formed with a verb conjugated in the third person singular.

Patients are attended by appointments - Se atiende a los pacientes por citas

It's getting late, let's go! - ¡Se hace tarde, vámonos!

It's better to sleep with cold than with hot weather - Se duerme mejor con frío que con calor

However, the passive se is generally used to talk about something that happened to an object, without saying who or what carried out the action, and it will generally refer to objects, not people.

DNA has been studied for a long time - El ADN se ha estudiado por mucho tiempo

Forming Impersonal Sentences

The number one rule to remember for forming the impersonal se sentences is that they are always formed with singular verbs.

Here is a simple formula to remember how to form these sentences:

SE + VERB (3rd person singular) + COMPLEMENT

In the next section, we'll list the most commonly used verbs with impersonal sentences.

1) Copulative verbs

These verbs express a state or condition but need to be accompanied by something else that gives them full meaning.

The most commonly used verbs are.
Examples:

It became very complicated to travel as a backpacker - Se volvió muy complicado viajar como mochilero

Being in that Spa is very good - Se está muy bien en ese spa

Looks like an old painting - Se parece a una pintura vieja

In winter it gets dark very fast - En invierno se pone oscuro muy rápido

You do what you can - Se hace lo que se puede

Suddenly the weather got ugly - De repente el clima se puso feo

2) Intransitive Verbs

These verbs do not require a direct object, and are often (not always) used to form one-word sentences.
Examples:

It opens at 7am and closes at 9pm - Se abre a las 7am y se cierra a las 9pm

If you don't like this house, look for another one - Si no te gusta esta casa, se busca otra

You give without asking anything in return - Se da sin pedir nada a cambio

It takes courage - Se necesita valor

Many people were interviewed today - Se entrevistó a muchas personas hoy

People eat very well in the restaurant of that hotel - Se come muy sabroso en el restaurante de ese hotel

3) Transitive verbs

These verbs require more complements or "arguments" in the sentence, otherwise, they won't make sense.

Let's see an example of what happens without a complement when we use the transitive verb "ofrecer", which means "to offer".

Is offered - Se ofrece (hmmm what is being offered - why don't know!?)

Accommodation is offered - Se ofrece alojamiento (ah, makes sense)

As you can see, transitive verbs require extra information to make sense.

Below are the most common transitive verbs you'll likely use with the passive se in Spanish.
Examples:

You live better when you're happy - Se vive mejor cuando eres feliz

The rehearsal starts at 9am - Se comienza a ensayar a las 9am

In that hostel, you sleep well - En ese hostal se duerme muy bien

I love this place, the air you breathe is brand new - Me encanta este lugar, se respira un aire nuevo

You laugh like crazy watching the play - Se ríe como loco viendo esa obra de teatro

Break time is over - Se terminó la hora de descanso

The Impersonal SE in Spanish: Exercises

Test your knowledge of the impersonal se by trying to form the impersonal sentences:

Se _____ que hará mucho calor (It is said that it will be very hot tomorrow)

Se _____ mejor cuando hay silencio (You sleep better when there is silence)

No me gusta esta habitación, ____ _____ todo el ruido (I don't like this room, all the noise is heard)

Se _____ mesoneros (Help wanted)

Se escucha esa canción en todas las emisoras (That song is heard on all stations)

Este fin de semana se _____ (This weekend you must attend work)

Answers

Se dice que hará mucho calor

Se duerme mejor cuando hay silencio

No me gusta esta habitación, se oye todo el ruido

Se buscan mesoneros

Se escucha esa canción en todas las emisoras

Este fin de semana se trabaja

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Have conversations faster, understand people when they speak fast, and other tested tips to learn faster. It's likely that you have used the impersonal se in Spanish at some point before, even if you aren't quite sure what it is.

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I liked the way this video is done, I felt like it was explained well.

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Using Se in Spanish

'Monica gets up at eight o'clock.' 'Spanish is spoken here.' 'I left my keys at home.' What do all these sentences have in common? If you translated them into Spanish, they would all use the reflexive pronoun se. 'Mónica se levanta a las ocho.' 'Se habla español aquí.' 'Se me quedaron las llaves en casa.' In this lesson, we'll be reviewing reflexive verbs as well as introducing two new uses of se: se for impersonal constructions and se for accidental occurrences.

Reflexive Verbs

You already know why the first sentence, 'Monica gets up at eight o'clock' ('Mónica se levanta a las ocho'), uses se. It uses se because the verb levantarse (to get up) is reflexive. Remember, reflexive verbs use reflexive pronouns (myself, yourself, etc.) to show it is something you do to or for yourself. Many reflexive verbs have to do with your daily routine, such as taking a bath ( bañarse), brushing your teeth ( cepillarse los dientes), dressing yourself ( vestirse), getting up ( levantarse), or going to bed ( acostarse).

Do you remember how to conjugate reflexive verbs, like bañarse? First, take the reflexive pronoun se off the end of the infinitive and put it in front of the verb. Of course, the reflexive pronouns change form to match the subject, so you need to make sure the pronouns are in the correct form:

Now conjugate the verb as you normally would:

Here, se is the form of the reflexive pronoun that is used in the third person, either singular ( él, ella, Ud.) or plural ( ellos, ellas, Uds.).

Using 'Se' for Impersonal Constructions

In addition to being used with reflexive verbs in the third person, se is often used in impersonal constructions. In English, we often use 'they,' 'you,' or 'one:' 'They say that he's very handsome,' or, 'You/One can buy nice clothes here.' The passive voice, which uses a form of the verb 'to be' and a past participle (something is/was done) is also used: 'Spanish is spoken,' or, 'The tamales were eaten.'

In Spanish, the third person form of the reflexive is frequently used for both impersonal and passive constructions. For example, if you wanted to translate the English sentences we used as examples into Spanish, you would use se in all of them: 'Se dice que es muy guapo,' 'Se puede comprar linda ropa aquí,' 'Se habla español,' and 'Se comieron los tamales.'

Of course, what you are literally saying here is that things do or did themselves - one way to indicate that the person who did them is not important. Although it would sound ridiculous in English to say that 'the tamales ate themselves,' using se for impersonal and passive constructions sounds perfectly normal in Spanish. I promise!

In this type of construction, the subject often comes after the verb, so the verb matches what comes after it instead of what comes in front of it. Does this remind you of another construction? Right! Verbs like gustar, where you use gusta or gustan, depending on whether the noun that follows is singular or plural. In the same way, the impersonal and passive constructions with se only use verbs in the third person, singular or plural.

If the conjugated verb is followed by an infinitive, the conjunction que, an adverb, or nothing at all, use the singular form of the verb. These sentences are often translated into English as impersonal expressions. In the example, 'Se dice que es muy guapo,' dice is in the singular because it is followed by a clause introduced by que. In the sentence, 'Se puede comprar linda ropa aquí,' puede is in the singular because it is followed by an infinitive.

If the verb is followed by a noun, check the noun to see if it is singular or plural. For example, in the sentence, 'Se habla español,' español is singular, so the verb needs to be singular: habla. In the sentence, 'Se comieron los tamales,' tamales is plural, so you need to use 'comieron' rather than 'comió.' When se and the verb are followed by a noun, the sentence can usually be translated with the passive voice, although impersonal expressions may sometimes sound better.

Practice with the Impersonal 'Se'

The impersonal se can seem rather strange, since it's so different from impersonal constructions in English. To help you get the hang of it, let's try translating a few sentences from Spanish into English.

'En Argentina, se baila el tango.' Literally, this is saying, 'In Argentina, the tango dances itself.' In English, you could say, 'In Argentina, the tango is danced,' but you'd be most likely to say, 'In Argentina, they dance the tango.'

'Se construyeron las casas.' Again, literally, 'The houses built themselves,' but it sounds much better to say either, 'The houses were built,' or, 'They built the houses.'

'Se puede ver el mar desde aquí.' 'The ocean can be seen from here,' or, 'You can see the ocean from here.'

OK, now let's take some impersonal and passive sentences in English and see how you would translate them into Spanish using the impersonal se.

'The dishes were washed.' To say this in Spanish, we would start with se, then add the correct form of the verb lavar. What was washed? The dishes, so the verb will need to be in the third person plural form. The dishes were washed (completed action), so the verb will be in the preterite tense. What does that give us? Lavaron. How do you say 'dishes' in Spanish? Right - los platos. So all together we have, 'Se lavaron los platos.'

'You (One) can swim in the pool.' Again, start with se. Then add the verb poder. Poder will be followed by the infinitive form of the verb nadar, so what form does it need to be in? The third person singular, and it's in the present tense, so that gives you puede. Then you need 'in the pool'-- en la piscina. So all together you have, 'Se puede nadar en la piscina.'

Using 'Se' for Accidental Occurrences

A similar construction is used for things that happened unintentionally or by accident. It is basically just the impersonal se construction but with an indirect object pronoun added in between the se and the verb to show who the accident happened to. Se rompieron los platos ('The plates were broken') + me (I'm the one it happened to) = 'Se me rompieron los platos'. ('I accidentally broke the plates.')

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using 'se' in spanish - video & lesson transcript | study.com

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Using 'Se' in Spanish - Video & Lesson Transcript | Study.com

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'Monica gets up at eight o'clock.' 'Spanish is spoken here.' 'I left my keys at home.' What do all these sentences have in common? If you translated them into Spanish, they would all use the reflexive pronoun se. 'Mónica se levanta a las ocho.' 'Se habla español aquí.'

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I like the straightforward explanation and examples on this webpage. The information is easily understood.

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SpanishDict is the world’s largest online Spanish-English dictionary, translator, and reference tool.

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This is a pretty informative article about the impersonal se in Spanish. It also compares other uses of se.

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There is something in Spanish called the impersonal form or the impersonal se expression. You may have never heard of it before, but I'm here to tell you that this is one of those useful expressions that once you master them, they make your life easier in the language.

Keep reading to learn everything you need to know about the impersonal se form, what it is and what it means, as well as how it differentiates from other uses of the se pronoun, and how to use it.

¿Qué es la Forma Impersonal Se?

"What is the impersonal se form?" The forma impersonal se or "impersonal se form" is a grammar construction that comes very handy when you aren't sure about who is performing the action in a sentence. You do this quite often when talking about general things that we all do.

In English, you would say things like "one should," "you have to," "people say," or "they ask for."

In Spanish, you have it to help you solve all these sentences and you use it with a third person singular verb. However, before starting with the sentence structure and grammar formulas, I want to explore a little bit deeper the meaning of this construction.

What Does It Mean?

As stated above, you can use this form to make general observations about what people do.

A few examples will help to explain this better:

In English, you have "one," "you," and "they" as subjects for this type of sentence, but there's no equivalent in Spanish. The reason you have to use impersonal se constructions is precisely because these expressions lack a subject-that's why they're "impersonal."

Comparing the Impersonal Se

One of the main issues with the impersonal se form is that there are as many as 3 other constructions that also use the word se as their main feature:

Let's compare and contrast the impersonal se with each of them.

Impersonal Se vs Passive Se

In Spanish, you can build the passive voice using the pronoun se, this is known as the "passive se." The problem to differentiate these two se constructions is that they both have a similar formula:

Se + verb conjugated in third person

However, you can differentiate passive and impersonal se sentences looking at the number-the impersonal se sentences only use the singular, never the plural.

Also, impersonal se constructions never have a specific noun doing the action, while that's not always the case with the passive se.

Look at the following passive se sentence example:

Notice how the sentence includes a noun (los niños) doing the action, and how it's using the plural too. An impersonal se sentence wouldn't have any of those two elements:

The sentence example is singular and you don't have a specific noun doing the action. In Spanish, we don't know who's selling this house.

Impersonal Se vs Accidental Se

Use the accidental se to express that something happened by accident or unexpectedly. You can better understand this construction by looking at the way you say this in English:

When you read this example in English, you know that "you" are the subject of blame and that it was an accident. In Spanish, you don't need to be so specific and can simply say:

Notice how the use of the pronoun te communicates the idea that it was tú or "you" who spilled the milk. That's the difference with the impersonal se with which you never know who is doing the action.

Impersonal Se vs Reflexive Se

The reflexive se is a reflexive pronoun that works with the second person singular and plural, and with all the versions of the third person singular and plural.

The reflexive pronoun se plays the same role as the English words "yourself" (formal), "yourselves" (formal), "himself," "herself," "itself," "themselves," and "each other."

On the other hand, el pronombre impersonal se only works with the third person singular and you can only use it to talk about general things people do, without specifying who is doing them.

How to Use It

Remember that to form an impersonal se expression you have to conjugate your verb in the third person singular. This way, the formula is:

Examples:

In Questions

You can also use it in different questions that include the question words qué (what), cómo (how), dónde (where), cuándo (when), and por qué (why).

Practice Time!

These expressions are very useful to talk about things in general and when you don't know or don't want to mention who is doing the action. The formula is quite simple and all you need to do now is remember to practice your impersonal se expressions and start introducing them in your everyday conversations in Spanish.

Sign up for a free class with one of our certified, native Spanish-speaking teachers from Guatemala and start using personal se expressions in Spanish today. They teach more than 24,000 actively enrolled students every month and have been providing reliable service to Spanish learners for more than 10 years.

Ready to learn more Spanish grammar? Check these out!

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There is something in Spanish called the impersonal form or the impersonal se expression. You may have never heard of it before, but I'm here to tell you that this is one of those useful expressions that once you master them, they make your life easier in the language.

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This is a website with a video. Talks about passive and impersonal se usage and gives good examples of Spanish to English translation. Speaker speaks slow and clearly. Discusses determinant.

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Impersonal Se, Passive Se, Accidental Se

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Impersonal Se se = uno verb always in 3rd person singular cannot be used with reflexive pronoun Passive Se conveys passive voice verb agrees with subject if subject has determinant, it can go before or after verb if subject has no determinant, it can only go after verb Accidental Se can diminish intentionality, often does not often translates to a new verb in English

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This video is a bit long but it is packed full of information and really helped me out.

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Learn Spanish: The word "se" in Spanish grammar

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This is an excellent video to check out to help clarify how to use the word "se." It shows real world examples, images, and more.

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How to use "se" in spanish - the most confusing word

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Here is a link to a site that helps break down the use of the impersonal se!

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Here is a link to a site that helps break down the use of the impersonal se!

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There is something in Spanish called the impersonal form or the impersonal se expression. You may have never heard of it before, but I'm here to tell you that this is one of those useful expressions that once you master them, they make your life easier in the language.

Keep reading to learn everything you need to know about the impersonal se form, what it is and what it means, as well as how it differentiates from other uses of the se pronoun, and how to use it.

¿Qué es la Forma Impersonal Se?

"What is the impersonal se form?" The forma impersonal se or "impersonal se form" is a grammar construction that comes very handy when you aren't sure about who is performing the action in a sentence. You do this quite often when talking about general things that we all do.

In English, you would say things like "one should," "you have to," "people say," or "they ask for."

In Spanish, you have it to help you solve all these sentences and you use it with a third person singular verb. However, before starting with the sentence structure and grammar formulas, I want to explore a little bit deeper the meaning of this construction.

What Does It Mean?

As stated above, you can use this form to make general observations about what people do.

A few examples will help to explain this better:

In English, you have "one," "you," and "they" as subjects for this type of sentence, but there's no equivalent in Spanish. The reason you have to use impersonal se constructions is precisely because these expressions lack a subject-that's why they're "impersonal."

Comparing the Impersonal Se

One of the main issues with the impersonal se form is that there are as many as 3 other constructions that also use the word se as their main feature:

Let's compare and contrast the impersonal se with each of them.

Impersonal Se vs Passive Se

In Spanish, you can build the passive voice using the pronoun se, this is known as the "passive se." The problem to differentiate these two se constructions is that they both have a similar formula:

Se + verb conjugated in third person

However, you can differentiate passive and impersonal se sentences looking at the number-the impersonal se sentences only use the singular, never the plural.

Also, impersonal se constructions never have a specific noun doing the action, while that's not always the case with the passive se.

Look at the following passive se sentence example:

Notice how the sentence includes a noun (los niños) doing the action, and how it's using the plural too. An impersonal se sentence wouldn't have any of those two elements:

The sentence example is singular and you don't have a specific noun doing the action. In Spanish, we don't know who's selling this house.

Impersonal Se vs Accidental Se

Use the accidental se to express that something happened by accident or unexpectedly. You can better understand this construction by looking at the way you say this in English:

When you read this example in English, you know that "you" are the subject of blame and that it was an accident. In Spanish, you don't need to be so specific and can simply say:

Notice how the use of the pronoun te communicates the idea that it was tú or "you" who spilled the milk. That's the difference with the impersonal se with which you never know who is doing the action.

Impersonal Se vs Reflexive Se

The reflexive se is a reflexive pronoun that works with the second person singular and plural, and with all the versions of the third person singular and plural.

The reflexive pronoun se plays the same role as the English words "yourself" (formal), "yourselves" (formal), "himself," "herself," "itself," "themselves," and "each other."

On the other hand, el pronombre impersonal se only works with the third person singular and you can only use it to talk about general things people do, without specifying who is doing them.

How to Use It

Remember that to form an impersonal se expression you have to conjugate your verb in the third person singular. This way, the formula is:

Examples:

In Questions

You can also use it in different questions that include the question words qué (what), cómo (how), dónde (where), cuándo (when), and por qué (why).

Practice Time!

These expressions are very useful to talk about things in general and when you don't know or don't want to mention who is doing the action. The formula is quite simple and all you need to do now is remember to practice your impersonal se expressions and start introducing them in your everyday conversations in Spanish.

Sign up for a free class with one of our certified, native Spanish-speaking teachers from Guatemala and start using personal se expressions in Spanish today. They teach more than 24,000 actively enrolled students every month and have been providing reliable service to Spanish learners for more than 10 years.

Ready to learn more Spanish grammar? Check these out!

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There is something in Spanish called the impersonal form or the impersonal se expression. You may have never heard of it before, but I'm here to tell you that this is one of those useful expressions that once you master them, they make your life easier in the language.

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I found this worksheet online that helps you practice using the impersonal "se", I found it super helpful

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Found this awesome video to help me understand impersonal "se". Super helpful and I subscribed to their channel because I will be going back to these videos in the near future to help me with Spanish.

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0:00 / 5:17•Watch full video

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This guy does a nice job of explaining impersonal and passive se in an easy to understand manner.

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02 How to use Impersonal Se / Passive Se in Spanish

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I have actually found useful tips regrading Spanish on this website before. They give definitions of when the term should be used, context clues, and some examples. There are also links to other articles surrounding the topic of impersonal "se" and when to use it.

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While the above English translations contain one, they, or you, there is no obvious grammatical subject in Spanish. This lack of an obvious subject is a key part of impersonal se constructions; it's what makes them impersonal!

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While the above English translations contain one, they, or you, there is no obvious grammatical subject in Spanish. This lack of an obvious subject is a key part of impersonal se constructions; it's what makes them impersonal!

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https://www.spanish.academy/blog/master-the-impersonal-se-in-spanish/

I found this blog to be very helpful.

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There is something in Spanish called the impersonal form or the impersonal se expression. You may have never heard of it before, but I'm here to tell you that this is one of those useful expressions that once you master them, they make your life easier in the language.

Keep reading to learn everything you need to know about the impersonal se form, what it is and what it means, as well as how it differentiates from other uses of the se pronoun, and how to use it.

¿Qué es la Forma Impersonal Se?

"What is the impersonal se form?" The forma impersonal se or "impersonal se form" is a grammar construction that comes very handy when you aren't sure about who is performing the action in a sentence. You do this quite often when talking about general things that we all do.

In English, you would say things like "one should," "you have to," "people say," or "they ask for."

In Spanish, you have it to help you solve all these sentences and you use it with a third person singular verb. However, before starting with the sentence structure and grammar formulas, I want to explore a little bit deeper the meaning of this construction.

What Does It Mean?

As stated above, you can use this form to make general observations about what people do.

A few examples will help to explain this better:

In English, you have "one," "you," and "they" as subjects for this type of sentence, but there's no equivalent in Spanish. The reason you have to use impersonal se constructions is precisely because these expressions lack a subject-that's why they're "impersonal."

Comparing the Impersonal Se

One of the main issues with the impersonal se form is that there are as many as 3 other constructions that also use the word se as their main feature:

Let's compare and contrast the impersonal se with each of them.

Impersonal Se vs Passive Se

In Spanish, you can build the passive voice using the pronoun se, this is known as the "passive se." The problem to differentiate these two se constructions is that they both have a similar formula:

Se + verb conjugated in third person

However, you can differentiate passive and impersonal se sentences looking at the number-the impersonal se sentences only use the singular, never the plural.

Also, impersonal se constructions never have a specific noun doing the action, while that's not always the case with the passive se.

Look at the following passive se sentence example:

Notice how the sentence includes a noun (los niños) doing the action, and how it's using the plural too. An impersonal se sentence wouldn't have any of those two elements:

The sentence example is singular and you don't have a specific noun doing the action. In Spanish, we don't know who's selling this house.

Impersonal Se vs Accidental Se

Use the accidental se to express that something happened by accident or unexpectedly. You can better understand this construction by looking at the way you say this in English:

When you read this example in English, you know that "you" are the subject of blame and that it was an accident. In Spanish, you don't need to be so specific and can simply say:

Notice how the use of the pronoun te communicates the idea that it was tú or "you" who spilled the milk. That's the difference with the impersonal se with which you never know who is doing the action.

Impersonal Se vs Reflexive Se

The reflexive se is a reflexive pronoun that works with the second person singular and plural, and with all the versions of the third person singular and plural.

The reflexive pronoun se plays the same role as the English words "yourself" (formal), "yourselves" (formal), "himself," "herself," "itself," "themselves," and "each other."

On the other hand, el pronombre impersonal se only works with the third person singular and you can only use it to talk about general things people do, without specifying who is doing them.

How to Use It

Remember that to form an impersonal se expression you have to conjugate your verb in the third person singular. This way, the formula is:

Examples:

In Questions

You can also use it in different questions that include the question words qué (what), cómo (how), dónde (where), cuándo (when), and por qué (why).

Practice Time!

These expressions are very useful to talk about things in general and when you don't know or don't want to mention who is doing the action. The formula is quite simple and all you need to do now is remember to practice your impersonal se expressions and start introducing them in your everyday conversations in Spanish.

Sign up for a free class with one of our certified, native Spanish-speaking teachers from Guatemala and start using personal se expressions in Spanish today. They teach more than 24,000 actively enrolled students every month and have been providing reliable service to Spanish learners for more than 10 years.

Ready to learn more Spanish grammar? Check these out!

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There is something in Spanish called the impersonal form or the impersonal se expression. You may have never heard of it before, but I'm here to tell you that this is one of those useful expressions that once you master them, they make your life easier in the language.

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This article talks about the importance of using the impersonal se in certain situations. They used the example "I broke your computer" to show the difference between being seen as doing something accidentally vs. doing it on purpose.

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If you have ever been curious about how se can appear in multiple contexts, you'll see in this post how you can use it in sentences to reduce blame, to hide guilty parties and to make generalisations.

Not to be confused with the Spanish word sé (I know) from saber or the imperative command sé (be...!) from ser, the pronoun se is an extremely versatile Spanish word.

In this post, I'll share the 4 uses of the Spanish pronoun se to ensure you are never puzzled by this word again.

Use 1. In pronominal verbs

In Spanish, there are two types of verbs that are categorised as pronominal: reflexive verbs and reciprocal verbs. Often the term reflexive gets used to talk about both types of verbs. But, in reality, they are slightly different.

In this article, the reason I have categorised reflexive and reciprocal verbs together is because the pronoun se is used in the same way for both types of verbs.

In these verbs, the pronoun se is used to indicate that the object and the subject of the sentence are the same.

I'll take you through some examples for each type of pronominal verb.

In reflexive sentences the object and the subject of the sentence are the same and the subject could be one, two or many different people. Here are a few examples:

In both of these examples, if you removed the pronoun se, the sentences would be incomplete.

For example, if you said the second sentence without the se:
Mis hijos lavan antes de la cena cada noche.
The listener would ask the question 'washed what?'.

You could say 'their clothes':

But, if you meant to say themselves, you need to ensure you include the pronoun se.

In contrast to reflexive sentences, in reciprocal sentences the object and the subject of the sentence are typically two different people doing the same thing to each other. Here are a few examples:

Again, if you removed the pronoun se, these sentences wouldn't make sense. If you said ellos besaron, the person you are speaking with would ask 'who did they kiss?'.

Before moving on, I'll also point out that the phrase " el uno al otro" means "each other". This phrase gives you a hint that the sentence is most likely reciprocal and will need the word se included before the conjugated verb.

Use 2. When combining direct and indirect object pronouns

The second use of the pronoun se is for sentences that combine direct objects and indirect objects.

In Spanish, the words lo, la, los and las can be used to replace direct objects. A quick example:

This can be shortened to:

You can then use the words le and les to substitute for indirect objects. For example:

This can be shortened to:

The next step is to combine direct and indirect objects, but there is a problem that occurs.

If you start with this sentence:

When you try to shorten this sentence with direct object pronouns and indirect object pronouns, you get:

But, les los isn't correct. Why?

Try saying les los di three times fast.

Now, instead say se los di three times fast.

Hopefully, you can see that se actually makes life easier for you here.

Since the point of direct and indirect pronouns is to make life easy, the pronoun se is used to replace both le and les in these types of sentences to avoid a tongue twister.

Here is a summary of how you should replace se in these sentences:

Here are two more examples:

These constructions are important for hacking Spanish grammar, you can read more about Spanish grammar shortcuts with the 13 grammar hacking sentences here.

Use 3. The impersonal se

Similar to how reflexive and reciprocal verbs are sometimes referred to as the same, so too are impersonal and passive verbs.

I have incorrectly referred to impersonal verbs as passive verbs a number of times on the blog and podcast. But, like pronominal verbs, the name doesn't really matter.

What does matter is that you recognise the behaviour and role of the pronoun se in these sentences.

For now, an impersonal sentence is a sentence where the subject is completely generalised. This means you could talk about rules or make comment on the general behaviour of people in your city or country.

For example:
They say that you should eat vegetables every day. One cannot smoke here.
Here, the idea of 'one' or 'they' isn't anybody specific.

When you form these ideas in Spanish, the word se replaces 'one' or 'they' from English. Here are a few examples:

Last week I wrote an article about the Spanish verb encontrar. In that article, I gave the following example:

Another (and more common) way to ask this question is by using the impersonal se:

This question is now no longer about you or the person you are speaking with but anybody who may want to find tapas in the neighbourhood.

Use 4. The passive se

In contrast to the impersonal se, the passive se is used when the subject of the sentence is someone or something specific but is omitted from the sentence for various reasons.

You may want to omit the subject in a passive sentence if the subject isn't relevant, if the subject isn't known, or to reduce blame.

Here are some examples:

In this last example, the problems were solved by someone specific (or multiple people). But, the reason the sentence is presented this way is because the most important thing is the fact that the problems were solved. It doesn't really matter by who.

Also, if you omitted the se from this example, it would sound like the problems were solving something else which doesn't make sense in this context. Particularly, since there isn't another object in the sentence.

Last few examples:

When you forget something in Spanish, you often do it with a passive construction to highlight that you forgot by accident. Similarly, you could say:

In both of these examples, the speaker is trying to reduce the blame for their mistake. The best literal translations would be 'the tickets were forgotten to me' and 'the computer was broken to me'.

In fact, if you said:

In Spanish, this could be interpreted that you broke the computer on purpose (or through pretty heavy negligence).

Your Turn

As you can see, the Spanish pronoun se is definitely not straightforward.

The best way to get used to these sentences is to put them into action.

This week, construct some sentences using the impersonal se about how things are done in general in your country.

Also, try using the passive se to talk about something important that happened in your life recently and see if you can omit the subject of the sentence.

How else can you use the pronoun se in a Spanish sentence?

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4 Ways to Use "Se" to Express Yourself More Broadly

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If you have ever been curious about how se can appear in multiple contexts, you'll see in this post how you can use it in sentences to reduce blame, to hide guilty parties and to make generalisations. Not to be confused with the Spanish word sé (I know) from saber or the imperative command sé (be...!)

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There were a lot different videos about this and I have to admit it is a confusing subject to me. Apparently there are up to 6 different ways to use 'Se'. I thought this video was good because it was short and focused on the Impersonal Se and knowing when to use it.

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Impersonal Se | Introduction to 'Se' in Spanish

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This article provides a great description of what the Impersonal Se is and how to use it properly. Additionally, this article provides a wide range of examples using the impersonal se which I found extremely helpful! - Emma Meyers SPAN 112

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There is something in Spanish called the impersonal form or the impersonal se expression. You may have never heard of it before, but I'm here to tell you that this is one of those useful expressions that once you master them, they make your life easier in the language.

Keep reading to learn everything you need to know about the impersonal se form, what it is and what it means, as well as how it differentiates from other uses of the se pronoun, and how to use it.

¿Qué es la Forma Impersonal Se?

"What is the impersonal se form?" The forma impersonal se or "impersonal se form" is a grammar construction that comes very handy when you aren't sure about who is performing the action in a sentence. You do this quite often when talking about general things that we all do.

In English, you would say things like "one should," "you have to," "people say," or "they ask for."

In Spanish, you have it to help you solve all these sentences and you use it with a third person singular verb. However, before starting with the sentence structure and grammar formulas, I want to explore a little bit deeper the meaning of this construction.

What Does It Mean?

As stated above, you can use this form to make general observations about what people do.

A few examples will help to explain this better:

In English, you have "one," "you," and "they" as subjects for this type of sentence, but there's no equivalent in Spanish. The reason you have to use impersonal se constructions is precisely because these expressions lack a subject-that's why they're "impersonal."

Comparing the Impersonal Se

One of the main issues with the impersonal se form is that there are as many as 3 other constructions that also use the word se as their main feature:

Let's compare and contrast the impersonal se with each of them.

Impersonal Se vs Passive Se

In Spanish, you can build the passive voice using the pronoun se, this is known as the "passive se." The problem to differentiate these two se constructions is that they both have a similar formula:

Se + verb conjugated in third person

However, you can differentiate passive and impersonal se sentences looking at the number-the impersonal se sentences only use the singular, never the plural.

Also, impersonal se constructions never have a specific noun doing the action, while that's not always the case with the passive se.

Look at the following passive se sentence example:

Notice how the sentence includes a noun (los niños) doing the action, and how it's using the plural too. An impersonal se sentence wouldn't have any of those two elements:

The sentence example is singular and you don't have a specific noun doing the action. In Spanish, we don't know who's selling this house.

Impersonal Se vs Accidental Se

Use the accidental se to express that something happened by accident or unexpectedly. You can better understand this construction by looking at the way you say this in English:

When you read this example in English, you know that "you" are the subject of blame and that it was an accident. In Spanish, you don't need to be so specific and can simply say:

Notice how the use of the pronoun te communicates the idea that it was tú or "you" who spilled the milk. That's the difference with the impersonal se with which you never know who is doing the action.

Impersonal Se vs Reflexive Se

The reflexive se is a reflexive pronoun that works with the second person singular and plural, and with all the versions of the third person singular and plural.

The reflexive pronoun se plays the same role as the English words "yourself" (formal), "yourselves" (formal), "himself," "herself," "itself," "themselves," and "each other."

On the other hand, el pronombre impersonal se only works with the third person singular and you can only use it to talk about general things people do, without specifying who is doing them.

How to Use It

Remember that to form an impersonal se expression you have to conjugate your verb in the third person singular. This way, the formula is:

Examples:

In Questions

You can also use it in different questions that include the question words qué (what), cómo (how), dónde (where), cuándo (when), and por qué (why).

Practice Time!

These expressions are very useful to talk about things in general and when you don't know or don't want to mention who is doing the action. The formula is quite simple and all you need to do now is remember to practice your impersonal se expressions and start introducing them in your everyday conversations in Spanish.

Sign up for a free class with one of our certified, native Spanish-speaking teachers from Guatemala and start using personal se expressions in Spanish today. They teach more than 24,000 actively enrolled students every month and have been providing reliable service to Spanish learners for more than 10 years.

Ready to learn more Spanish grammar? Check these out!

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There is something in Spanish called the impersonal form or the impersonal se expression. You may have never heard of it before, but I'm here to tell you that this is one of those useful expressions that once you master them, they make your life easier in the language.

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I like this blog explaining the use of impersonal se in Spanish. It describes how impersonal se is different from reflexive se and accidental se. It also explains when to use the impersonal se and how it is formed. In addition, it gives examples and exercises to engage the readers in practicing how to do the impersonal se structure.

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It's likely that you have used the impersonal se in Spanish at some point before, even if you aren't quite sure what it is.

The impersonal se is used when there is no clear subject performing the action, which is often the case when we make a general statement i.e. it's impersonal. For example, when we talk about general things that people do, we'll often say something like: one must, you have to, people say, they require.

This is not to be confused with the reflexive se or the accidental se in Spanish, which uses the same se pronoun, but for different actions.

the reflexive pronoun se is used to indicate that an action is being performed by the same subject who receives the effects of that action.

the accidental se is used to imply that something happened by accident or unintentionally.

Let's take a look at a couple of examples to see the differences between how these se pronouns are used differently.
Reflexive SE

He gets (himself) dressed every morning after taking a shower - Él se viste todas las mañanas luego de tomar una ducha

They got lost in Japan trying to find the hotel - Ellas/Ellos se perdieron en Japón tratando de encontrar el hotel
Impersonal SE

Mecatronic specialists are needed - Se necesitan especialistas en mecatrónica

When To Use The Impersonal SE In Spanish

Back to the impersonal se, and how we form impersonal sentences.

Before we continue, now is a good time to mention something that causes confusion for many Spanish students - the passive se.

While this is different from the impersonal se, both have the same purpose - to substitute the subject of a sentence with se.

As we mentioned before, impersonal se sentences are used to describe an action, without referring to a specific person. It's important to remember that these impersonal sentences are always formed with a verb conjugated in the third person singular.

Patients are attended by appointments - Se atiende a los pacientes por citas

It's getting late, let's go! - ¡Se hace tarde, vámonos!

It's better to sleep with cold than with hot weather - Se duerme mejor con frío que con calor

However, the passive se is generally used to talk about something that happened to an object, without saying who or what carried out the action, and it will generally refer to objects, not people.

DNA has been studied for a long time - El ADN se ha estudiado por mucho tiempo

Forming Impersonal Sentences

The number one rule to remember for forming the impersonal se sentences is that they are always formed with singular verbs.

Here is a simple formula to remember how to form these sentences:

SE + VERB (3rd person singular) + COMPLEMENT

In the next section, we'll list the most commonly used verbs with impersonal sentences.

1) Copulative verbs

These verbs express a state or condition but need to be accompanied by something else that gives them full meaning.

The most commonly used verbs are.
Examples:

It became very complicated to travel as a backpacker - Se volvió muy complicado viajar como mochilero

Being in that Spa is very good - Se está muy bien en ese spa

Looks like an old painting - Se parece a una pintura vieja

In winter it gets dark very fast - En invierno se pone oscuro muy rápido

You do what you can - Se hace lo que se puede

Suddenly the weather got ugly - De repente el clima se puso feo

2) Intransitive Verbs

These verbs do not require a direct object, and are often (not always) used to form one-word sentences.
Examples:

It opens at 7am and closes at 9pm - Se abre a las 7am y se cierra a las 9pm

If you don't like this house, look for another one - Si no te gusta esta casa, se busca otra

You give without asking anything in return - Se da sin pedir nada a cambio

It takes courage - Se necesita valor

Many people were interviewed today - Se entrevistó a muchas personas hoy

People eat very well in the restaurant of that hotel - Se come muy sabroso en el restaurante de ese hotel

3) Transitive verbs

These verbs require more complements or "arguments" in the sentence, otherwise, they won't make sense.

Let's see an example of what happens without a complement when we use the transitive verb "ofrecer", which means "to offer".

Is offered - Se ofrece (hmmm what is being offered - why don't know!?)

Accommodation is offered - Se ofrece alojamiento (ah, makes sense)

As you can see, transitive verbs require extra information to make sense.

Below are the most common transitive verbs you'll likely use with the passive se in Spanish.
Examples:

You live better when you're happy - Se vive mejor cuando eres feliz

The rehearsal starts at 9am - Se comienza a ensayar a las 9am

In that hostel, you sleep well - En ese hostal se duerme muy bien

I love this place, the air you breathe is brand new - Me encanta este lugar, se respira un aire nuevo

You laugh like crazy watching the play - Se ríe como loco viendo esa obra de teatro

Break time is over - Se terminó la hora de descanso

The Impersonal SE in Spanish: Exercises

Test your knowledge of the impersonal se by trying to form the impersonal sentences:

Se _____ que hará mucho calor (It is said that it will be very hot tomorrow)

Se _____ mejor cuando hay silencio (You sleep better when there is silence)

No me gusta esta habitación, ____ _____ todo el ruido (I don't like this room, all the noise is heard)

Se _____ mesoneros (Help wanted)

Se escucha esa canción en todas las emisoras (That song is heard on all stations)

Este fin de semana se _____ (This weekend you must attend work)

Answers

Se dice que hará mucho calor

Se duerme mejor cuando hay silencio

No me gusta esta habitación, se oye todo el ruido

Se buscan mesoneros

Se escucha esa canción en todas las emisoras

Este fin de semana se trabaja

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Have conversations faster, understand people when they speak fast, and other tested tips to learn faster. It's likely that you have used the impersonal se in Spanish at some point before, even if you aren't quite sure what it is.

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Here is a good basic quick reference guide to the use of "se" verbs in Spanish.

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This is a link to an advanced language blog about impersonal se. It also discusses how this form of se is differentiated from the reflexive se and the accidental se.

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Get our free email course, Shortcut to Conversational.

Have conversations faster, understand people when they speak fast, and other tested tips to learn faster.

It's likely that you have used the impersonal se in Spanish at some point before, even if you aren't quite sure what it is.

The impersonal se is used when there is no clear subject performing the action, which is often the case when we make a general statement i.e. it's impersonal. For example, when we talk about general things that people do, we'll often say something like: one must, you have to, people say, they require.

This is not to be confused with the reflexive se or the accidental se in Spanish, which uses the same se pronoun, but for different actions.

the reflexive pronoun se is used to indicate that an action is being performed by the same subject who receives the effects of that action.

the accidental se is used to imply that something happened by accident or unintentionally.

Let's take a look at a couple of examples to see the differences between how these se pronouns are used differently.
Reflexive SE

He gets (himself) dressed every morning after taking a shower - Él se viste todas las mañanas luego de tomar una ducha

They got lost in Japan trying to find the hotel - Ellas/Ellos se perdieron en Japón tratando de encontrar el hotel
Impersonal SE

Mecatronic specialists are needed - Se necesitan especialistas en mecatrónica

When To Use The Impersonal SE In Spanish

Back to the impersonal se, and how we form impersonal sentences.

Before we continue, now is a good time to mention something that causes confusion for many Spanish students - the passive se.

While this is different from the impersonal se, both have the same purpose - to substitute the subject of a sentence with se.

As we mentioned before, impersonal se sentences are used to describe an action, without referring to a specific person. It's important to remember that these impersonal sentences are always formed with a verb conjugated in the third person singular.

Patients are attended by appointments - Se atiende a los pacientes por citas

It's getting late, let's go! - ¡Se hace tarde, vámonos!

It's better to sleep with cold than with hot weather - Se duerme mejor con frío que con calor

However, the passive se is generally used to talk about something that happened to an object, without saying who or what carried out the action, and it will generally refer to objects, not people.

DNA has been studied for a long time - El ADN se ha estudiado por mucho tiempo

Forming Impersonal Sentences

The number one rule to remember for forming the impersonal se sentences is that they are always formed with singular verbs.

Here is a simple formula to remember how to form these sentences:

SE + VERB (3rd person singular) + COMPLEMENT

In the next section, we'll list the most commonly used verbs with impersonal sentences.

1) Copulative verbs

These verbs express a state or condition but need to be accompanied by something else that gives them full meaning.

The most commonly used verbs are.
Examples:

It became very complicated to travel as a backpacker - Se volvió muy complicado viajar como mochilero

Being in that Spa is very good - Se está muy bien en ese spa

Looks like an old painting - Se parece a una pintura vieja

In winter it gets dark very fast - En invierno se pone oscuro muy rápido

You do what you can - Se hace lo que se puede

Suddenly the weather got ugly - De repente el clima se puso feo

2) Intransitive Verbs

These verbs do not require a direct object, and are often (not always) used to form one-word sentences.
Examples:

It opens at 7am and closes at 9pm - Se abre a las 7am y se cierra a las 9pm

If you don't like this house, look for another one - Si no te gusta esta casa, se busca otra

You give without asking anything in return - Se da sin pedir nada a cambio

It takes courage - Se necesita valor

Many people were interviewed today - Se entrevistó a muchas personas hoy

People eat very well in the restaurant of that hotel - Se come muy sabroso en el restaurante de ese hotel

3) Transitive verbs

These verbs require more complements or "arguments" in the sentence, otherwise, they won't make sense.

Let's see an example of what happens without a complement when we use the transitive verb "ofrecer", which means "to offer".

Is offered - Se ofrece (hmmm what is being offered - why don't know!?)

Accommodation is offered - Se ofrece alojamiento (ah, makes sense)

As you can see, transitive verbs require extra information to make sense.

Below are the most common transitive verbs you'll likely use with the passive se in Spanish.
Examples:

You live better when you're happy - Se vive mejor cuando eres feliz

The rehearsal starts at 9am - Se comienza a ensayar a las 9am

In that hostel, you sleep well - En ese hostal se duerme muy bien

I love this place, the air you breathe is brand new - Me encanta este lugar, se respira un aire nuevo

You laugh like crazy watching the play - Se ríe como loco viendo esa obra de teatro

Break time is over - Se terminó la hora de descanso

The Impersonal SE in Spanish: Exercises

Test your knowledge of the impersonal se by trying to form the impersonal sentences:

Se _____ que hará mucho calor (It is said that it will be very hot tomorrow)

Se _____ mejor cuando hay silencio (You sleep better when there is silence)

No me gusta esta habitación, ____ _____ todo el ruido (I don't like this room, all the noise is heard)

Se _____ mesoneros (Help wanted)

Se escucha esa canción en todas las emisoras (That song is heard on all stations)

Este fin de semana se _____ (This weekend you must attend work)

Answers

Se dice que hará mucho calor

Se duerme mejor cuando hay silencio

No me gusta esta habitación, se oye todo el ruido

Se buscan mesoneros

Se escucha esa canción en todas las emisoras

Este fin de semana se trabaja

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Have conversations faster, understand people when they speak fast, and other tested tips to learn faster. It's likely that you have used the impersonal se in Spanish at some point before, even if you aren't quite sure what it is.

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I like this source because it offers explanation and example on how to use the impersonal se as well as comparison with the passive se to help lock in understanding.

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There is something in Spanish called the impersonal form or the impersonal se expression. You may have never heard of it before, but I'm here to tell you that this is one of those useful expressions that once you master them, they make your life easier in the language.

Keep reading to learn everything you need to know about the impersonal se form, what it is and what it means, as well as how it differentiates from other uses of the se pronoun, and how to use it.

¿Qué es la Forma Impersonal Se?

"What is the impersonal se form?" The forma impersonal se or "impersonal se form" is a grammar construction that comes very handy when you aren't sure about who is performing the action in a sentence. You do this quite often when talking about general things that we all do.

In English, you would say things like "one should," "you have to," "people say," or "they ask for."

In Spanish, you have it to help you solve all these sentences and you use it with a third person singular verb. However, before starting with the sentence structure and grammar formulas, I want to explore a little bit deeper the meaning of this construction.

What Does It Mean?

As stated above, you can use this form to make general observations about what people do.

A few examples will help to explain this better:

In English, you have "one," "you," and "they" as subjects for this type of sentence, but there's no equivalent in Spanish. The reason you have to use impersonal se constructions is precisely because these expressions lack a subject-that's why they're "impersonal."

Comparing the Impersonal Se

One of the main issues with the impersonal se form is that there are as many as 3 other constructions that also use the word se as their main feature:

Let's compare and contrast the impersonal se with each of them.

Impersonal Se vs Passive Se

In Spanish, you can build the passive voice using the pronoun se, this is known as the "passive se." The problem to differentiate these two se constructions is that they both have a similar formula:

Se + verb conjugated in third person

However, you can differentiate passive and impersonal se sentences looking at the number-the impersonal se sentences only use the singular, never the plural.

Also, impersonal se constructions never have a specific noun doing the action, while that's not always the case with the passive se.

Look at the following passive se sentence example:

Notice how the sentence includes a noun (los niños) doing the action, and how it's using the plural too. An impersonal se sentence wouldn't have any of those two elements:

The sentence example is singular and you don't have a specific noun doing the action. In Spanish, we don't know who's selling this house.

Impersonal Se vs Accidental Se

Use the accidental se to express that something happened by accident or unexpectedly. You can better understand this construction by looking at the way you say this in English:

When you read this example in English, you know that "you" are the subject of blame and that it was an accident. In Spanish, you don't need to be so specific and can simply say:

Notice how the use of the pronoun te communicates the idea that it was tú or "you" who spilled the milk. That's the difference with the impersonal se with which you never know who is doing the action.

Impersonal Se vs Reflexive Se

The reflexive se is a reflexive pronoun that works with the second person singular and plural, and with all the versions of the third person singular and plural.

The reflexive pronoun se plays the same role as the English words "yourself" (formal), "yourselves" (formal), "himself," "herself," "itself," "themselves," and "each other."

On the other hand, el pronombre impersonal se only works with the third person singular and you can only use it to talk about general things people do, without specifying who is doing them.

How to Use It

Remember that to form an impersonal se expression you have to conjugate your verb in the third person singular. This way, the formula is:

Examples:

In Questions

You can also use it in different questions that include the question words qué (what), cómo (how), dónde (where), cuándo (when), and por qué (why).

Practice Time!

These expressions are very useful to talk about things in general and when you don't know or don't want to mention who is doing the action. The formula is quite simple and all you need to do now is remember to practice your impersonal se expressions and start introducing them in your everyday conversations in Spanish.

Sign up for a free class with one of our certified, native Spanish-speaking teachers from Guatemala and start using personal se expressions in Spanish today. They teach more than 24,000 actively enrolled students every month and have been providing reliable service to Spanish learners for more than 10 years.

Ready to learn more Spanish grammar? Check these out!

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There is something in Spanish called the impersonal form or the impersonal se expression. You may have never heard of it before, but I'm here to tell you that this is one of those useful expressions that once you master them, they make your life easier in the language.

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This is a great video and breaks down the impersonal se. It shows how to use it with reflexive verbs.

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02 How to use Impersonal Se / Passive Se in Spanish

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Includes SE reflexive, accidental and impersonal.... 3 for the price of one...
Mary Bourke

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There is something in Spanish called the impersonal form or the impersonal se expression. You may have never heard of it before, but I'm here to tell you that this is one of those useful expressions that once you master them, they make your life easier in the language.

Keep reading to learn everything you need to know about the impersonal se form, what it is and what it means, as well as how it differentiates from other uses of the se pronoun, and how to use it.

¿Qué es la Forma Impersonal Se?

"What is the impersonal se form?" The forma impersonal se or "impersonal se form" is a grammar construction that comes very handy when you aren't sure about who is performing the action in a sentence. You do this quite often when talking about general things that we all do.

In English, you would say things like "one should," "you have to," "people say," or "they ask for."

In Spanish, you have it to help you solve all these sentences and you use it with a third person singular verb. However, before starting with the sentence structure and grammar formulas, I want to explore a little bit deeper the meaning of this construction.

What Does It Mean?

As stated above, you can use this form to make general observations about what people do.

A few examples will help to explain this better:

In English, you have "one," "you," and "they" as subjects for this type of sentence, but there's no equivalent in Spanish. The reason you have to use impersonal se constructions is precisely because these expressions lack a subject-that's why they're "impersonal."

Comparing the Impersonal Se

One of the main issues with the impersonal se form is that there are as many as 3 other constructions that also use the word se as their main feature:

Let's compare and contrast the impersonal se with each of them.

Impersonal Se vs Passive Se

In Spanish, you can build the passive voice using the pronoun se, this is known as the "passive se." The problem to differentiate these two se constructions is that they both have a similar formula:

Se + verb conjugated in third person

However, you can differentiate passive and impersonal se sentences looking at the number-the impersonal se sentences only use the singular, never the plural.

Also, impersonal se constructions never have a specific noun doing the action, while that's not always the case with the passive se.

Look at the following passive se sentence example:

Notice how the sentence includes a noun (los niños) doing the action, and how it's using the plural too. An impersonal se sentence wouldn't have any of those two elements:

The sentence example is singular and you don't have a specific noun doing the action. In Spanish, we don't know who's selling this house.

Impersonal Se vs Accidental Se

Use the accidental se to express that something happened by accident or unexpectedly. You can better understand this construction by looking at the way you say this in English:

When you read this example in English, you know that "you" are the subject of blame and that it was an accident. In Spanish, you don't need to be so specific and can simply say:

Notice how the use of the pronoun te communicates the idea that it was tú or "you" who spilled the milk. That's the difference with the impersonal se with which you never know who is doing the action.

Impersonal Se vs Reflexive Se

The reflexive se is a reflexive pronoun that works with the second person singular and plural, and with all the versions of the third person singular and plural.

The reflexive pronoun se plays the same role as the English words "yourself" (formal), "yourselves" (formal), "himself," "herself," "itself," "themselves," and "each other."

On the other hand, el pronombre impersonal se only works with the third person singular and you can only use it to talk about general things people do, without specifying who is doing them.

How to Use It

Remember that to form an impersonal se expression you have to conjugate your verb in the third person singular. This way, the formula is:

Examples:

In Questions

You can also use it in different questions that include the question words qué (what), cómo (how), dónde (where), cuándo (when), and por qué (why).

Practice Time!

These expressions are very useful to talk about things in general and when you don't know or don't want to mention who is doing the action. The formula is quite simple and all you need to do now is remember to practice your impersonal se expressions and start introducing them in your everyday conversations in Spanish.

Sign up for a free class with one of our certified, native Spanish-speaking teachers from Guatemala and start using personal se expressions in Spanish today. They teach more than 24,000 actively enrolled students every month and have been providing reliable service to Spanish learners for more than 10 years.

Ready to learn more Spanish grammar? Check these out!

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There is something in Spanish called the impersonal form or the impersonal se expression. You may have never heard of it before, but I'm here to tell you that this is one of those useful expressions that once you master them, they make your life easier in the language.

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Simple pictures go with the instruction. This is one area of Spanish whereby I have difficulty. I am happy to see so many people sharing advice!

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Using Se in Spanish

'Monica gets up at eight o'clock.' 'Spanish is spoken here.' 'I left my keys at home.' What do all these sentences have in common? If you translated them into Spanish, they would all use the reflexive pronoun se. 'Mónica se levanta a las ocho.' 'Se habla español aquí.' 'Se me quedaron las llaves en casa.' In this lesson, we'll be reviewing reflexive verbs as well as introducing two new uses of se: se for impersonal constructions and se for accidental occurrences.

Reflexive Verbs

You already know why the first sentence, 'Monica gets up at eight o'clock' ('Mónica se levanta a las ocho'), uses se. It uses se because the verb levantarse (to get up) is reflexive. Remember, reflexive verbs use reflexive pronouns (myself, yourself, etc.) to show it is something you do to or for yourself. Many reflexive verbs have to do with your daily routine, such as taking a bath ( bañarse), brushing your teeth ( cepillarse los dientes), dressing yourself ( vestirse), getting up ( levantarse), or going to bed ( acostarse).

Do you remember how to conjugate reflexive verbs, like bañarse? First, take the reflexive pronoun se off the end of the infinitive and put it in front of the verb. Of course, the reflexive pronouns change form to match the subject, so you need to make sure the pronouns are in the correct form:

Now conjugate the verb as you normally would:

Here, se is the form of the reflexive pronoun that is used in the third person, either singular ( él, ella, Ud.) or plural ( ellos, ellas, Uds.).

Using 'Se' for Impersonal Constructions

In addition to being used with reflexive verbs in the third person, se is often used in impersonal constructions. In English, we often use 'they,' 'you,' or 'one:' 'They say that he's very handsome,' or, 'You/One can buy nice clothes here.' The passive voice, which uses a form of the verb 'to be' and a past participle (something is/was done) is also used: 'Spanish is spoken,' or, 'The tamales were eaten.'

In Spanish, the third person form of the reflexive is frequently used for both impersonal and passive constructions. For example, if you wanted to translate the English sentences we used as examples into Spanish, you would use se in all of them: 'Se dice que es muy guapo,' 'Se puede comprar linda ropa aquí,' 'Se habla español,' and 'Se comieron los tamales.'

Of course, what you are literally saying here is that things do or did themselves - one way to indicate that the person who did them is not important. Although it would sound ridiculous in English to say that 'the tamales ate themselves,' using se for impersonal and passive constructions sounds perfectly normal in Spanish. I promise!

In this type of construction, the subject often comes after the verb, so the verb matches what comes after it instead of what comes in front of it. Does this remind you of another construction? Right! Verbs like gustar, where you use gusta or gustan, depending on whether the noun that follows is singular or plural. In the same way, the impersonal and passive constructions with se only use verbs in the third person, singular or plural.

If the conjugated verb is followed by an infinitive, the conjunction que, an adverb, or nothing at all, use the singular form of the verb. These sentences are often translated into English as impersonal expressions. In the example, 'Se dice que es muy guapo,' dice is in the singular because it is followed by a clause introduced by que. In the sentence, 'Se puede comprar linda ropa aquí,' puede is in the singular because it is followed by an infinitive.

If the verb is followed by a noun, check the noun to see if it is singular or plural. For example, in the sentence, 'Se habla español,' español is singular, so the verb needs to be singular: habla. In the sentence, 'Se comieron los tamales,' tamales is plural, so you need to use 'comieron' rather than 'comió.' When se and the verb are followed by a noun, the sentence can usually be translated with the passive voice, although impersonal expressions may sometimes sound better.

Practice with the Impersonal 'Se'

The impersonal se can seem rather strange, since it's so different from impersonal constructions in English. To help you get the hang of it, let's try translating a few sentences from Spanish into English.

'En Argentina, se baila el tango.' Literally, this is saying, 'In Argentina, the tango dances itself.' In English, you could say, 'In Argentina, the tango is danced,' but you'd be most likely to say, 'In Argentina, they dance the tango.'

'Se construyeron las casas.' Again, literally, 'The houses built themselves,' but it sounds much better to say either, 'The houses were built,' or, 'They built the houses.'

'Se puede ver el mar desde aquí.' 'The ocean can be seen from here,' or, 'You can see the ocean from here.'

OK, now let's take some impersonal and passive sentences in English and see how you would translate them into Spanish using the impersonal se.

'The dishes were washed.' To say this in Spanish, we would start with se, then add the correct form of the verb lavar. What was washed? The dishes, so the verb will need to be in the third person plural form. The dishes were washed (completed action), so the verb will be in the preterite tense. What does that give us? Lavaron. How do you say 'dishes' in Spanish? Right - los platos. So all together we have, 'Se lavaron los platos.'

'You (One) can swim in the pool.' Again, start with se. Then add the verb poder. Poder will be followed by the infinitive form of the verb nadar, so what form does it need to be in? The third person singular, and it's in the present tense, so that gives you puede. Then you need 'in the pool'-- en la piscina. So all together you have, 'Se puede nadar en la piscina.'

Using 'Se' for Accidental Occurrences

A similar construction is used for things that happened unintentionally or by accident. It is basically just the impersonal se construction but with an indirect object pronoun added in between the se and the verb to show who the accident happened to. Se rompieron los platos ('The plates were broken') + me (I'm the one it happened to) = 'Se me rompieron los platos'. ('I accidentally broke the plates.')

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using 'se' in spanish - video & lesson transcript | study.com

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Using 'Se' in Spanish - Video & Lesson Transcript | Study.com

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'Monica gets up at eight o'clock.' 'Spanish is spoken here.' 'I left my keys at home.' What do all these sentences have in common? If you translated them into Spanish, they would all use the reflexive pronoun se. 'Mónica se levanta a las ocho.' 'Se habla español aquí.'

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Impersonal vs personal ... explained well

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There is something in Spanish called the impersonal form or the impersonal se expression. You may have never heard of it before, but I'm here to tell you that this is one of those useful expressions that once you master them, they make your life easier in the language.

Keep reading to learn everything you need to know about the impersonal se form, what it is and what it means, as well as how it differentiates from other uses of the se pronoun, and how to use it.

¿Qué es la Forma Impersonal Se?

"What is the impersonal se form?" The forma impersonal se or "impersonal se form" is a grammar construction that comes very handy when you aren't sure about who is performing the action in a sentence. You do this quite often when talking about general things that we all do.

In English, you would say things like "one should," "you have to," "people say," or "they ask for."

In Spanish, you have it to help you solve all these sentences and you use it with a third person singular verb. However, before starting with the sentence structure and grammar formulas, I want to explore a little bit deeper the meaning of this construction.

What Does It Mean?

As stated above, you can use this form to make general observations about what people do.

A few examples will help to explain this better:

In English, you have "one," "you," and "they" as subjects for this type of sentence, but there's no equivalent in Spanish. The reason you have to use impersonal se constructions is precisely because these expressions lack a subject-that's why they're "impersonal."

Comparing the Impersonal Se

One of the main issues with the impersonal se form is that there are as many as 3 other constructions that also use the word se as their main feature:

Let's compare and contrast the impersonal se with each of them.

Impersonal Se vs Passive Se

In Spanish, you can build the passive voice using the pronoun se, this is known as the "passive se." The problem to differentiate these two se constructions is that they both have a similar formula:

Se + verb conjugated in third person

However, you can differentiate passive and impersonal se sentences looking at the number-the impersonal se sentences only use the singular, never the plural.

Also, impersonal se constructions never have a specific noun doing the action, while that's not always the case with the passive se.

Look at the following passive se sentence example:

Notice how the sentence includes a noun (los niños) doing the action, and how it's using the plural too. An impersonal se sentence wouldn't have any of those two elements:

The sentence example is singular and you don't have a specific noun doing the action. In Spanish, we don't know who's selling this house.

Impersonal Se vs Accidental Se

Use the accidental se to express that something happened by accident or unexpectedly. You can better understand this construction by looking at the way you say this in English:

When you read this example in English, you know that "you" are the subject of blame and that it was an accident. In Spanish, you don't need to be so specific and can simply say:

Notice how the use of the pronoun te communicates the idea that it was tú or "you" who spilled the milk. That's the difference with the impersonal se with which you never know who is doing the action.

Impersonal Se vs Reflexive Se

The reflexive se is a reflexive pronoun that works with the second person singular and plural, and with all the versions of the third person singular and plural.

The reflexive pronoun se plays the same role as the English words "yourself" (formal), "yourselves" (formal), "himself," "herself," "itself," "themselves," and "each other."

On the other hand, el pronombre impersonal se only works with the third person singular and you can only use it to talk about general things people do, without specifying who is doing them.

How to Use It

Remember that to form an impersonal se expression you have to conjugate your verb in the third person singular. This way, the formula is:

Examples:

In Questions

You can also use it in different questions that include the question words qué (what), cómo (how), dónde (where), cuándo (when), and por qué (why).

Practice Time!

These expressions are very useful to talk about things in general and when you don't know or don't want to mention who is doing the action. The formula is quite simple and all you need to do now is remember to practice your impersonal se expressions and start introducing them in your everyday conversations in Spanish.

Sign up for a free class with one of our certified, native Spanish-speaking teachers from Guatemala and start using personal se expressions in Spanish today. They teach more than 24,000 actively enrolled students every month and have been providing reliable service to Spanish learners for more than 10 years.

Ready to learn more Spanish grammar? Check these out!

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There is something in Spanish called the impersonal form or the impersonal se expression. You may have never heard of it before, but I'm here to tell you that this is one of those useful expressions that once you master them, they make your life easier in the language.

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Maestro Kaplan explains this with a very straightforward, easy-to-understand approach.

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This grammar lesson is a quick introduction to the impersonal se. I often refer back to the SpanishDict grammar pages when I get confused about something.

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While the above English translations contain one, they, or you, there is no obvious grammatical subject in Spanish. This lack of an obvious subject is a key part of impersonal se constructions; it's what makes them impersonal!

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While the above English translations contain one, they, or you, there is no obvious grammatical subject in Spanish. This lack of an obvious subject is a key part of impersonal se constructions; it's what makes them impersonal!

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8DV6Kyud0M
I liked this video because it is very simple and gives good examples including where to put the verb, which is always helpful.

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Here is a website that discusses passive se and impersonal se. I think it does a good job of giving examples of ways to use it like using different kinds of verbs with it

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Se is used in lots of different scenarios in Spanish, for example, we see it in reflexive verbs.

In this lesson, we'll show you three other ways to use it: Passive se, se + transitive verb + personal a, and impersonal se.

You may have heard people talk about the passive voice. It's pretty much the opposite of the active voice. We use the passive when we want to focus on what's being done, rather than who's doing it.

In passive constructions, the object of a verb (the thing that's having something done to it) becomes the subject (the main focus of the sentence). The formula is:
Noun + ser + past participle
For example, in the following sentences, the ball ( la pelota) and the documents ( los documentos) go from being the object to being the subject.

We now have the option to say who did it, using the word por:
Los documentos fueron firmados por Carmen.
But that's totally optional-the documents are more important than Carmen in this passive sentence.

BEWARE: overuse of this construction can seem unnatural to native speakers, so sometimes you'll need to avoid it. That's where this article comes in...

The first method is the passive se.

Here are the rules for using the passive se:

*A transitive verb is a verb that's followed by a direct object, i.e. something that the verb acts upon. For example, I fed the cat; I watch TV; I love my wife.An intransitive verb is a verb that's not followed by a direct object, e.g. I lied, I swim, I skate.

*This kind of exclamation is common in parents scolding their children!

2. Se + transitive verb + personal a ('se' + verbo transitivo + 'a' personal)

Sometimes, with transitive verbs, things can get confusing. If we tried to use the passive se before a living thing, people might mistakenly think we were using a reflexive se or a reciprocal se. For example:

Poor people treat each other well. (Reciprocal se.)

Poor people are treated well. (Passive se!)

To help with this, a kind of hybrid of the passive se and impersonal se has developed. We use the word se, followed by a transitive verb in the third person singular form, then add the personal a and the person(s) having the action done to them:

This construction is similar to the passive se, and has pretty much the same meaning. The difference is that the verb is followed by the personal a, it's a human (or an animal) that's having something done to it, and it's only ever used in the singular. It's similar to the impersonal se (see below) in that we don't know/care who's doing the action. Here are the rules:

It's used with transitive verbs followed by the personal a.

3. Impersonal se ('se' impersonal)

The impersonal se is used to outline things that people in general do. Here's more detail:

It can be used with a transitive verb, but missing out the direct object.

It can be used with an intransitive verb.

It can be used with a copulative verb. A copulative verb is a special type of verb. Two of the main ones are ser (to be) and estar (to be).

We know there's a lottt to take in here. It might help to look at the three constructions side-by-side.

There is an agent (who does the action) but it's not mentioned.

There is a human agent (who does the action) but it's not mentioned.

No specific agent. People in general.

Transitive verbs.

Transitive verbs.

Transitive verbs without specifying the direct object.
Intransitive verbs.
Copulative verbs.

The thing that's having something done to it is inanimate.

The person having stuff done to them is human.

Not applicable.

Singular or plural.

Singular.

Singular.

Let's try a little test. These are tricky, even for native Spanish-speakers, so just give them a go! Say whether the se used in the construction is the passive se, the se + transitive + a, or the impersonal se.

2. Los coches se vendieron en poco tiempo. (The cars sold out in no time.)

3. Se busca casa con dos cuartos. (Seeking: two-bedroom house/a two-bedroom house is being looked for.)

4. Se duerme mejor en una cama cómoda. (One sleeps better on a comfy bed.)

5. No se paga mal a Francisco. (Francisco isn't paid badly.)

6. No me gusta esta discoteca. ¿Quién puede bailar cuando se está rodeado de borrachos? I don't like this club. Who can dance when you're surrounded by drunk people?

All this se stuff can get super confusing, so don't worry if you don't fully get it. By practicing little and often, you should start to notice the kinds of sentences where it's used. ¡Suerte!

For more lessons like this, don't forget to subscribe to My Daily Spanish newsletter!

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The Passive Se and Impersonal Se in Spanish

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Se is used in lots of different scenarios in Spanish, for example, we see it in reflexive verbs . In this lesson, we'll show you three other ways to use it: Passive se, se + transitive verb + personal a, and impersonal se. You may have heard people talk about the passive voice.

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I really like SpanishDict and how it's broken down.

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While the above English translations contain one, they, or you, there is no obvious grammatical subject in Spanish. This lack of an obvious subject is a key part of impersonal se constructions; it's what makes them impersonal!

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While the above English translations contain one, they, or you, there is no obvious grammatical subject in Spanish. This lack of an obvious subject is a key part of impersonal se constructions; it's what makes them impersonal!

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This is an excellent video for getting a grasp on how to use the impersonal "se". I found it really helpful that he spoke the words and also gave great examples of how to use them. He used first and third person sentences, and spoke slowly so it was easy to understand.

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Learn Spanish: (55) The impersonal SE pronoun

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This site illuminated the many uses of se (those I wasn't previously aware of) such as impersonal. accidental, and reflexive. Very interesting and easy to understand as they're all given clear examples. https://baselang.com/blog/advanced-grammar/the-impersonal-se-in-spanish/

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The word "se" in Spanish is very versatile and the following video shows it's different uses
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPnNpRL1Heo

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Here is a great video on how to do impersonal "se".

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This is a fun video that teaches how to use the impersonal "se" and shows how you would use it in a real life conversation. You'll also learn how to make mojitos!

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Estudia español. El pronombre SE, impersonal. Lección 17.

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This video is really short which is nice for people who like information that is straight to the point and very clear. I definitely recommend watching this video to get a better understanding of the impersonal se.
https://video.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search;_ylt=AwrUiTl9YzdfGw4A9wMPxQt.;_ylu=X3oDMTE0aHExdGxrBGNvbG8DZ3ExBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDQzAxNjNfMQRzZWMDcGl2cw--?p=The+impersonal+se+in+spanish&type=ANYS_A1ATP_gn_bsf_%2452462_000000%24&param1=mT_2r_ci3eQn2aKt6VSUxHRNs0LvTE-Ue2Lu5RTZ9irMxf4JyyttPzrNhzldILPWf6GvfNSQRmbqv57JgTYmqEM2B7rq5z5szT5_fCpbnXkId6mhHD0OeeQNHQfBsLCbZUOieZuNIRILqa2qzib30rFA560HBGlnzLrZxqgiOK72URig3aG0pmHiOaHoRj6-VQid0_q_QvQiP3vG6fs2ICH7QDDO1dO5LJbJNV_0FHEL0wEB63WUkoTq-4kZ9nIFnt4KhxI3rBp5gQ%2C%2C&hsimp=yhs-SF01&hspart=Lkry&ei=UTF-8&fr=yhs-Lkry-SF01#id=2&vid=0b10d3719ab39e108ef44656aaf71c45&action=view

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This resource is a great one when learning how to use the impersonal "Se" in Spanish. I think this website is beneficial when learning because it breaks down the information in a way that is easy to understand as well as many examples.
https://baselang.com/blog/advanced-grammar/the-impersonal-se-in-spanish/

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This is one of the videos, that Prof. Raven's referred to. I found it before seeeing her video, but found it helpful in understanding Impersonal Se.

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How to use Se permite & Se prohíbe (Intermediate Spanish)

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWU_lvuUXrU

I like this video because not only did it do a good job explaining the content, but I like how it touched back on phrases one learns when they are first learning Spanish. Phrases we don't really question and just memorize.

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This site has a great breakdown on how to correctly use the Impersonal Se, and the various ways to use it.
https://www.inmsol.com/spanish-grammar/11-various-uses-spanish-pronoun-se/

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This is a good video explaining how to use se depending on the type of verb with examples.

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Spanish Lesson: Passive Se vs. Impersonal Se

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In this video I talk about the difference between the passive se and impersonal se in Spanish. Here's the link I promise in the video: https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B8TENLTsrMuQNGEzMWY0YmEtOGFmMC00MGFkLTkwMmYtNDJhODNlNjU3MWU5 senorbelles.com youtube.com/senorbelles twitter.com/senorbelles facebook.com/senorbelles senorbelles.spreadshirt.com

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This article distinguishes between the impersonal se, as well as the reflexive/accidental se to distinguish the proper use.

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Get our free email course, Shortcut to Conversational.

Have conversations faster, understand people when they speak fast, and other tested tips to learn faster.

It's likely that you have used the impersonal se in Spanish at some point before, even if you aren't quite sure what it is.

The impersonal se is used when there is no clear subject performing the action, which is often the case when we make a general statement i.e. it's impersonal. For example, when we talk about general things that people do, we'll often say something like: one must, you have to, people say, they require.

This is not to be confused with the reflexive se or the accidental se in Spanish, which uses the same se pronoun, but for different actions.

the reflexive pronoun se is used to indicate that an action is being performed by the same subject who receives the effects of that action.

the accidental se is used to imply that something happened by accident or unintentionally.

Let's take a look at a couple of examples to see the differences between how these se pronouns are used differently.
Reflexive SE

He gets (himself) dressed every morning after taking a shower - Él se viste todas las mañanas luego de tomar una ducha

They got lost in Japan trying to find the hotel - Ellas/Ellos se perdieron en Japón tratando de encontrar el hotel
Impersonal SE

Mecatronic specialists are needed - Se necesitan especialistas en mecatrónica

When To Use The Impersonal SE In Spanish

Back to the impersonal se, and how we form impersonal sentences.

Before we continue, now is a good time to mention something that causes confusion for many Spanish students - the passive se.

While this is different from the impersonal se, both have the same purpose - to substitute the subject of a sentence with se.

As we mentioned before, impersonal se sentences are used to describe an action, without referring to a specific person. It's important to remember that these impersonal sentences are always formed with a verb conjugated in the third person singular.

Patients are attended by appointments - Se atiende a los pacientes por citas

It's getting late, let's go! - ¡Se hace tarde, vámonos!

It's better to sleep with cold than with hot weather - Se duerme mejor con frío que con calor

However, the passive se is generally used to talk about something that happened to an object, without saying who or what carried out the action, and it will generally refer to objects, not people.

DNA has been studied for a long time - El ADN se ha estudiado por mucho tiempo

Forming Impersonal Sentences

The number one rule to remember for forming the impersonal se sentences is that they are always formed with singular verbs.

Here is a simple formula to remember how to form these sentences:

SE + VERB (3rd person singular) + COMPLEMENT

In the next section, we'll list the most commonly used verbs with impersonal sentences.

1) Copulative verbs

These verbs express a state or condition but need to be accompanied by something else that gives them full meaning.

The most commonly used verbs are.
Examples:

It became very complicated to travel as a backpacker - Se volvió muy complicado viajar como mochilero

Being in that Spa is very good - Se está muy bien en ese spa

Looks like an old painting - Se parece a una pintura vieja

In winter it gets dark very fast - En invierno se pone oscuro muy rápido

You do what you can - Se hace lo que se puede

Suddenly the weather got ugly - De repente el clima se puso feo

2) Intransitive Verbs

These verbs do not require a direct object, and are often (not always) used to form one-word sentences.
Examples:

It opens at 7am and closes at 9pm - Se abre a las 7am y se cierra a las 9pm

If you don't like this house, look for another one - Si no te gusta esta casa, se busca otra

You give without asking anything in return - Se da sin pedir nada a cambio

It takes courage - Se necesita valor

Many people were interviewed today - Se entrevistó a muchas personas hoy

People eat very well in the restaurant of that hotel - Se come muy sabroso en el restaurante de ese hotel

3) Transitive verbs

These verbs require more complements or "arguments" in the sentence, otherwise, they won't make sense.

Let's see an example of what happens without a complement when we use the transitive verb "ofrecer", which means "to offer".

Is offered - Se ofrece (hmmm what is being offered - why don't know!?)

Accommodation is offered - Se ofrece alojamiento (ah, makes sense)

As you can see, transitive verbs require extra information to make sense.

Below are the most common transitive verbs you'll likely use with the passive se in Spanish.
Examples:

You live better when you're happy - Se vive mejor cuando eres feliz

The rehearsal starts at 9am - Se comienza a ensayar a las 9am

In that hostel, you sleep well - En ese hostal se duerme muy bien

I love this place, the air you breathe is brand new - Me encanta este lugar, se respira un aire nuevo

You laugh like crazy watching the play - Se ríe como loco viendo esa obra de teatro

Break time is over - Se terminó la hora de descanso

The Impersonal SE in Spanish: Exercises

Test your knowledge of the impersonal se by trying to form the impersonal sentences:

Se _____ que hará mucho calor (It is said that it will be very hot tomorrow)

Se _____ mejor cuando hay silencio (You sleep better when there is silence)

No me gusta esta habitación, ____ _____ todo el ruido (I don't like this room, all the noise is heard)

Se _____ mesoneros (Help wanted)

Se escucha esa canción en todas las emisoras (That song is heard on all stations)

Este fin de semana se _____ (This weekend you must attend work)

Answers

Se dice que hará mucho calor

Se duerme mejor cuando hay silencio

No me gusta esta habitación, se oye todo el ruido

Se buscan mesoneros

Se escucha esa canción en todas las emisoras

Este fin de semana se trabaja

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Have conversations faster, understand people when they speak fast, and other tested tips to learn faster. It's likely that you have used the impersonal se in Spanish at some point before, even if you aren't quite sure what it is.

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Another Spanishdict link but this is a quiz to practice and cement those impersonal and passive "se"!
Here is one for just the impersonal -->  https://www.spanishdict.com/quizzes/87/impersonal-se-vs-passive-se

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Impersonal "Se" in Spanish Practice Quiz | SpanishDict

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Learn about impersonal "se" in Spanish with fun practice quizzes.

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I use this website a great deal to review conjugations and look up words I may not know. There is a good explanation of impersonal se use and passive se
.https://www.spanishdict.com/guide/impersonal-se-vs-passive-se

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This video explains the impersonal "se" as well as passive "Se."

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Learn Spanish impersonal se and passive se. How to use impersonal se in Spanish. Using verbs in Spanish with impersonal se and passive se. Spanish verbs with impersonal se and passive se. When to use impersonal se or passive se in sentences in Spanish. Spanish grammar with impersonal se or passive se.

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This site simplifies the grammatical rules and allows you to practice what you learn

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While the above English translations contain one, they, or you, there is no obvious grammatical subject in Spanish. This lack of an obvious subject is a key part of impersonal se constructions; it's what makes them impersonal!

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While the above English translations contain one, they, or you, there is no obvious grammatical subject in Spanish. This lack of an obvious subject is a key part of impersonal se constructions; it's what makes them impersonal!

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I like this website because it relays the information both written and verbally
. There are also some real examples that you can follow-up along with. I love examples!

http://spanishhackers.com/the-impersonal-and-passive-se/

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It would be really helpful if everyone made sure their addition to the board didn't overlap the existing ones as it can make it difficult to access the posts and/or comments.  Thanks!

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I found this video to be helpful with the variety of examples provided. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dbUY_Bbnf4

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¡Si se puede! This is a great video that completely explains the uses of impersonal "se".

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Here is a good quick resource I found that helps one learn or refresh the use of the impersonal se

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This video is from my "go to" Youtube learning source. In this video, Se is discussed as a reflexive pronoun and well as how se is used in impersonal sentences.

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Learn Spanish: The word "se" in Spanish grammar

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I like this video because the lesson is presented in Spanish and he speaks slowly, clearly, and provides the written English translation. It is a well constructed video.

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Learn Spanish: (55) The impersonal SE pronoun

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I found an article on passive and imperative Se. I liked this one because it got to the point and it gave a lot of examples. Enjoy!
https://www.spanishdict.com/guide/impersonal-se-vs-passive-se

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I found this on spandict.com. I like how it describes the purpose of se before going into using se as an impersonal subject. 

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I found this on spandict.com. I like how it describes the purpose of se before going into using se as an impersonal subject. 

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Learn Spanish 312   Se in Impersonal, Passive, and Unexpected Events

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This website has a few links to other resources that explain and help teach you how to correctly use impersonal "se"

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Impersonal SE and Passive SE Spanish Class Activities

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1. Impersonal SE - Carnivals Lesson Plan [MEMBERS ONLY] - Students learn about the Carnivals in Spanish speaking countries with text and two videos of the carnivals from Bolivia and Spain. Then also learn about the Impersonal SE by completing a grammar chart and a written practice.

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Short and simple explanation of informal "se" with an example of a reflexive verb at the end of the video.

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This seems like a logical resource to explain the informal "se"

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The Impersonal and Passive se in Spanish

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An Active voice is when you have a subject doing something with an active verb. In English a Passive voice has an object having something done to it with or without an identified subject.

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https://www.123teachme.com/learn_spanish/passive_voice_2

This is another useful summary of what the impersonal se is all about!

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dck-Ba3tSu8

very informative! this is a really helpful lesson!

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el se impersonal-the impersonal "se" in spanish - Bing video

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Impersonal Se / Passive Se in Spanish - Practice #1

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I liked this video because he ties in reflexive verbs as well and shows practical uses.

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http://www.spanishdict.com/guide/impersonal-se-vs-passive-se

I like Spanish Dict for more than just personal se, but it is especially helpful with this topic as it gives a comparison between impersonal and passive. Sometimes I need to see a comparison for it all to make sense to me.

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I would love to see this teacher in class. She made this video for the substitute teacher to show while she was out.

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La Autentica Tortilla de Patatas Española

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Many students confuse the "se impersonal" with the "se pasivo". I think this site breaks it down in a simple and accessible way.

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Impersonal Se vs. Passive Se | SpanishDict

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Learn about impersonal se in Spanish and passive se in Spanish in this article.

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I always like Sr. Jordan's straightforward video lectures. He does a nice job if breaking down "el se impersonal" in this video.

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02 How to use Impersonal Se / Passive Se in Spanish