Se impersonal, se pasivo

Se impersonal, se pasivo y la
voz pasiva
Passive “se”
 Can only be used with transitive
verbs.
 Can only be used with verbs in the
3rd person.
 Can be singular or plural 3rd person
forms.
 Usually used with non-human nouns
and pronouns.
Passive “se” examples
 Se sirve el vino en una copa de
vidrio.
 The wine is served in a glass.
 Se sirven los vinos en una copa de vidrio.
 The wines are served in a glass.
 Se alquila una casa.
 House for rent.
Impersonal “se”
Is used with 3rd person
verbs.
Is equivalent to “one” or
“people”
Is used most commonly with
transitive verbs.
Impersonal “se” examples
 No se entra.
 Do not enter.
 Se dice que va a llover…
 They say it’s going to rain…
 Se cruza si el semáforo está en
verde…
 You can cross on green…
Contrasting and Comparing
 It is hard to distinguish between the
impersonal and passive “se”.
 The difference lies in whether or not
the context refers to a direct object
(implied or apparent):
 If the context refers to a direct object
then it is the passive “se”.
 If it does not refer to a direct object then
it is the impersonal “se”.
Example
 En España se come mucho ajo.
 In Spain a lot of garlic is eaten.
 PASSIVE “SE” because “ajo” is the direct
object of “come”.
 En España se come mucho.
 In Spain people eat a lot.
 IMPERSONAL “SE” because “come” does
not refer to a direct object, it´s just a
general observation about eating habits.
Unintentional Occurrences
 To express an accidental
occurrence (or one you don’t
want to take responsibility for)
you can use certain verbs with a
particular construction.
Unintentional Occurrences






se
se
se
se
se
se
me + preterit verb
te + preterit verb
le + preterit verb
nos + preterit verb
os + preterit verb
les + preterit verb
Examples
 Se me olvidó hacer la tarea.
 I forgot to do my homework.
 My homework didn’t get done.
OR
 Se te rompió el vaso.
 You broke the glass.
OR
 The glass broke, and you just happened
to be there when it happened.
Tips
 The verb agrees with the noun
following it.
 The person who does the action
“accidentally” is represented by the
indirect object pronoun.
 Common verbs used with this
construction:
 caer, olvidar, perder, quemar, romper
La voz pasiva
 Otras maneras de expresiones no
activas (pasivas) son las siguiente:
 SER + participio pasado + por
 El subjeto no hace la acción, sino el objeto.
 Funciona también:
 Pretérito perfecto de SER + participio pasado
 ESTAR + participio pasado
 El resultado de una acción anterior.
La voz pasiva
SER + participio pasado + *por
 Frase “activa”
 La maestra enseñó la clase.
 Frase “pasiva”
 La clase fue enseñada por la maestra.
 La clase ha sido enseñada por la
maestra.
La voz pasiva
ESTAR + participio pasado + por
 Frase pasiva:
 La puerta está abierta.
La frase es pasiva porque un objeto inanimado y no un
individuo, es el subjeto de la frase. Es pasiva porque se
supone que la puerta no “se abrió”, sino que una
persona la abrió, Y ahora está en el estado resultado.