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 conjugation 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, two types of verbs 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, reflexive verbs and reciprocal verbs can often vary slightly in meaning.
That said, 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 terms of sentence structure and grammar.
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.
Reflexive Verbs
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:
English: He got himself to bed at eleven last night.
Español: Él se acostó a las once anoche.
English: My children wash before dinner every night.
Español: Mis hijos se lavan antes de la cena cada noche.
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’:
English: My children wash their clothes before dinner every night.
Español: Mis hijos lavan la ropa antes de la cena cada noche.
But, if you meant to say themselves, you need to ensure you include the pronoun se.
Reciprocal Verbs
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:
English: They kissed each other.
Español: Ellos se besaron.
English: They see each other every Wednesday.
Español: Se ven cada miércoles.
English: They woke each other up.
Español: Se despertaron el uno al otro.
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:
English: I have the keys.
Español: Tengo las llaves.
This can be shortened to:
English: I have them.
Español: Las tengo.
You can then use the words le and les to substitute for indirect objects. For example:
English: I didn’t say anything to my parents.
Español: No dije nada a mis padres.
This can be shortened to:
English: I didn’t say anything to them.
Español: Yo no les dije nada.
The next step is to combine direct and indirect objects, but there is a problem that occurs.
If you start with this sentence:
English: I gave the books to my parents.
Español: Di los libros a mis padres.
When you try to shorten this sentence with direct object pronouns and indirect object pronouns, you get:
English: I gave them to them.
Español: Les los di.
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 le and les with se in sentences with a combination of direct and indirect object pronouns:
le lo → se lo
le la → se la
le los → se los
le las → se las
les lo → se lo
les la → se la
les los → se los
les las → se las
Here are two more examples:
English: She brought it for them (it is a book).
Español: Ella se lo trajo.
English: I bought them for her (they are flowers).
Español: Se las compré.
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:
English: They say that you should eat vegetables every day.
Español: Se dice que deberías comer verduras todos los días.
English: One cannot smoke here.
Español: No se puede fumar aquí.
English: One enters through here.
Español: Se entra por aquí.
English: In my country they speak French.
Español: En mi país se habla francés.
Last week I wrote an article about the Spanish verb encontrar. In that article, I gave the following example:
English: Where can I find the best place to eat tapas in this neighbourhood?
Español: ¿Dónde puedo encontrar el mejor lugar para comer tapas en este barrio?
Another (and more common) way to ask this question is by using the impersonal se:
English: Where can one find the best place to eat tapas in this neighbourhood?
Español: ¿Dónde se puede encontrar el mejor lugar para comer tapas en este barrio?
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:
English: The car was sold last week.
Español: Se vendió el coche la semana pasada.
English: These problems were solved last year.
Español: Estos problemas se resolvieron el año pasado.
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:
English: I forgot the tickets.
Español: Se me olvidaron las entradas.
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:
English: I broke your computer.
Español: Se me rompió tu ordenador.
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:
English: I broke your computer.
Español: Rompí tu ordenador.
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 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?
You sure have some great teaching! Thank you!
Thank you for reading and for the kind words!
Hi Andrew, in your “4 ways to User “Se” one example in “the passive se” says:
Se me olvidó las entradas – why wouldn’t it say: se me olvidaron las entradas, as there are multiple tickets?
Thanks for clarification
Harald
Hi Harald, you are totally correct. As you rightly suggested, I have just updated the example to ‘olvidaron’ to match the plural noun. Thanks for your contribution.
Your teeching method is simply awesome
Thank you Kali! 🙂 🙏
Thanks for another great lesson. Best explanation of se I have studied. Thanks for all you do.
Thank you so much for your kind words Miles!! I really appreciate it!!
Hello Andrew, a really useful lesson. Thanks for writing it up. I just wondered into what category the often seen ‘Se Vende’ fits into. What would that literally translate to?
Hola Guy, the ‘se vende’ construction falls into the “passive” construction. Literally in English it would be “it is being sold” and the reason it is passive is because there is an implied “…by the owner” that is removed from the sentence because it is not important. It is not important that the owner has decided to sell the house, only that “(the house is) for sale” which would be a less literal but more natural translation to English.
Thanks mate, really useful! It’s always been a confusion to me that I just kind of accepted, but this really cleared it up!!
I’m glad you enjoyed the article Matt, thanks for the feedback!
This was incredibly helpful Andrew! I feel like I am always asking myself why is ¨se¨ in this sentence, but now I have a much better perspective. Excellent work!
Gracias Kristin, thanks for your kind words!
Hello Andrew. This is a great article about ‘se’. This cleared up some of the confusion I had. Could you talk about cuasi-reflejo? Also I have hard time figuring out to use se or not to use se when I try to construct a sentence. What kind of advice do you have to make that easier? Muchas gracias!
Hola Joshatx, thanks for the comment! In terms of cuasi-reflejo, this is a great question because it is worth thinking about and I didn’t cover it in the article.
In general, cuasi-reflejo verbs are different from normal reflexive verbs in that their behaviour with direct and indirect objects is a little different. This is probably a whole blog post on its own. But, in short, we can take a quick look at two verbs “comprarse” and “irse”. Here are two examples:
1. She bought herself a new car for her birthday – Se compró (a sí mismo) un coche nuevo por su cumpleaños.
2. I’m leaving – Me voy.
In the first example, we have a normal reflexive verb because it can take a direct object (a new car) and an indirect object (se) and (a sí mismo). But in the second example, we have a cuasi-reflejo because we can’t add a direct object or an indirect object to the sentence (I’m leaving). In general, I don’t think this is something to spend too much time thinking about because practically the only difference is whether you can add “a mí mismo”, “a ti mismo”, “a sí mismo” or not to the sentence. And, when in doubt, when you are speaking Spanish, you can simply omit it.
In reference to your second question, when to include “se” and when not to. You can refer to all of the examples above in the article. In addition, consider if the object and the subject of the sentence are the same, if they are then use “se”, if they are not the avoid “se”. This can be demonstrated with this simple example:
He washes his hands – Se lava las manos.
He washes his children – Lava a sus hijos.
In the first example the subject and the object are the same person. He is washing his own hands so we need to use “se”. In the second example, the subject is washing a different object (his children), so we need to omit the “se”.
I hope that helps. Saludos, Andrew.
Hola Andrew, thank you for your reply. “when in doubt, when you are speaking Spanish, you can simply omit it.” –> This one is nice to know 🙂
I am clear about regular reflective verbs. But cuasi ones are difficult because they are not intuitive by just thinking about the meaning of the action and they appear very random to me. Thanks!
Hi Andrew.
I’m so grateful to you for how you have clearly explained the use of se in Spanish. It is something that I have struggled with for a long time and now I think I’ve finally got it! Thank you!
Thanks Michelle! Your next step is to practise, practise, practise! Look for an opportunity to use each of the 4 uses of “se” in your next Spanish conversation. This will help make the different uses stick in your longterm memory.
This is most likely the best explanation for ‘se’ which seems to turn up all over the place in Spanish.
This is funny: Se me olvidaron las entradas People, in general, don’t see themselves as to blame. It’s not I who forgot the tickets – no, the tickets forgot themselves and I’m involved, blameless as I am. So, Spanish actually has a construct to help people escape accountability. Does this say something about Spaniards?
Thanks for your comment Jackson! In English, we can also escape accountability in a passive manner, e.g.
– “The tickets were forgotten.”
– “By who?
– “By me!”
So, it’s possible to avoid blame in both languages, it’s just that if you want to do it in Spanish, you’ll need to use the pronoun “se”.
Clearest expansion so far. Thanks. Most of the other articles I’ve read combine those sections and leave me confused.
If “el uno al otro” means “each other”, then why is it necessary to include it in “Se despertaron el uno al otro”. Doesn’t the “se” make it redundant?
Hola Matt, yes, this is a great question. It is similar to “yo quiero” vs “quiero”, the “yo” is redundant so in most circumstances Spanish natives will drop it. But, every now and then, they will use “yo” for emphasis. This is the same as “el uno al otro”, we can use it for emphasis but it is not necessary.
Hello Andrew. I have been confused by the usage of se for years. All my Spanish grammar books cover the material you represented, but none of them discuss or give examples of se le. Example: El se le acercó. A quien se le ocurría. Could you explain this? Thanks
Hola Al, thanks for the question! When we have a reflexive verb “acercarse” then the object of the sentence and the subject of the sentence are the same thing/person. So we could say that “acercarse” is “he/she moved himself/herself closer”. Thus, the sentence “El se le acercó” would be “he moved himself closer to her/him/it”. The reason we can’t use “lo” or “la” is that these are direct object pronouns and we already have a direct object in the sentence “he moved ‘himself'” (he is the subject and object!). So you can now think about two possible options side by side:
1. He approached it – Él lo acercó.
2. He moved ‘himself’ closer to it – Él se le acercó.
Thank you so very much! I understood the “le” to be an indirect object, which would then make me ask,” where or what in the holy heck is the direct object?” Your explanation makes perfect sense, ” He moved himself (d.o.)” You would not believe the hours I have spent in Spanish grammar books looking for an explanation. Examples of the change from le lo = se lo, les lo = se lo abound, but not one example of se le, even though it it used extensively in written and conversational Spanish. I cannot say thanks enough. I have been an ESL teacher at a local community college for the past 15. I learned Spanish so that I could better explain English grammatical concepts to my Hispanic students. It has been a personal affront to me that I couldn’t come to an understanding of grammar concerning “se le”. ¡ Hijole!, por fin lo entiendo. Gracias de nuevo. I would think about including this explanation in your blog. Al
In a case like this, I find that the mnemonic RID (Reflexive, Indirect, Direct) helps me organize my use of pronouns.
It’s a good suggestion Raymond, thanks for sharing! 🙂
Which use of “se” is used in the phrase “luego se ríe”?
Hola Matt, which use of “se” do you think it could be?
Well, the closest would probably be that it’s a reflexive pronoun. But I can’t get my head around the subject also being the direct object in that case. It doesn’t seem like laughing would have a direct object.
Yes, exactly right!! “Reírse” is a reflexive verb that means “to laugh”. It is similar to “to get up” – “levantarse”, or “to go to bed” – “acostarse”. You’re right that it can be misleading to try to think about direct objects with these verbs.
Great article on a confusing topic. I’ve been watching Made in Mexico on Netflix, and during a fight a character says “Y eso es se real,” subtitled as “And that’s real.” I know this is casual/rapid speech, but can se come after the verb like that? And what would the se add to the meaning? Thanks.
Hey Max, it doesn’t quite sound right. Do you remember the episode and the moment in the show?
It’s episode 5 (Dear Diary) in season 1 at about 1:40.
(I’m using the Language Learning with Netflix plug-in for Chrome, which is fantastic, so that’s why the extra subtitles.)
Hi Max, I’ve watched the scene and I’ve discussed it with a Mexican friend. It is strange. But, I have two theories:
1. It was an accidental stutter
2. She is not saying the pronoun “se” but the command form of the verb to be “sé”.
In the second case, we can think about it as if it was a reality TV show in English with characters using language that we wouldn’t find in a textbook. A Spanish sentence with additional punctuation and an equivalent in English might be:
Y eso es ‘¡sé real!’ – And that is like ‘get real!’
Hi. I find this confusing, too. I wonder if it should be ‘Y eso es ser real’ with the translation of ‘And that is being real.’ And that there was a typo?
Hola Robin, for some reason the thread for this discussion was not updating. I have just refreshed the thread so you can see what we discussed.
Otra lección fantástica desde Andrew Barr, incluso los comentarios después. Mil gracias.
Gracias William 🙂
Thanks Andrew for this article. Your articles are always informative but I found this one on the use of “se” especially so. But one thing is confusing to me and may be to others as well. In the following two examples:
English: The car was sold last week.
Español: Se vendió el coche la semana pasada.
English: These problems were solved last year.
Español: Estos problemas se resolvieron el año pasado.
it is not clear why el coche follows se vendio while estos problemas precedes se resolvieron. It is difficult for me to know which order to use. Does it make a difference?
Thanks for the question Michael, in the case of the passive voice, especially when it comes to everyday conversational Spanish, the order doesn’t matter. Natives will switch the order of the object and the verb conjugation as they feel like it, often depending on what they want to emphasize, so it is important to notice that both options are possible.
Thanks for another helpful lesson Andrew. I read a lot of them.
These constructions aren’t entirely new to me but the way you explain them is always pretty clear. However two things occurred when I was reading: firstly that although the lesson was about the use of ‘se’ we need to know that sometimes something else applies as in ‘nos vemos’ in the section on reciprocal verbs. Under the section on impersonal se appears ‘se dice’ meaning ‘they say’. I’m puzzled as to why it should be ‘dice’ when we talk about ‘they”. I am familiar with the phrase ‘cómo se dice’ but in that case it is ‘how do you say’ or ‘how does one say’ which makes sense without too much of a struggle.
Could you explain?
Hola Peter, you mentioned that “¿Cómo se dice?” could also be “How do you say?”, which I would agree is also a good translation. But, another student could ask, why isn’t it “dices”, since you said, “you say”? Often when I write the examples in these posts I look for the most common way to say something in Spanish and apply the translation to the most common way to say something in English. The most literal translation of “¿Cómo se dice?” is probably “How does one say oneself?” but this doesn’t make sense and no one talks this way. When we speak using the impersonal voice in English a common way to do this is using a phrase like “they say that you should eat your vegetables”. Who is “they”? It doesn’t matter. It is just a common way to talk using the impersonal voice in English. If we changed the phrase to “one says that one should eat their vegetables” or “it is said that one should eat their vegetables”, then we are creating sentences that are acceptable grammatically in English but they sound unnatural. So, how should we translate “se dice que se debe comer las verduras”? We could choose any of the three previous options, which means that translation isn’t always a perfect science. But, my opinion is that we should go for the most natural-sounding sentence in English when we can.
Thanks so much for such clear yet comprehensive uses of ‘se’. I always had problem with ‘me se rompió’ until now. Also I was told that with respect to the above question regarding passive construction you should always use the third person verb conjugation. Thanks again.
Hola Mike, thanks for the feedback. I’m glad you enjoyed the article!
That’s absolutely the greatest article explaining se,thank u!
Thanks for the kind words Ricky!! 🙂
Good article. I like how you watched an episode of a Mexican tv show to help a commenter. Respect.
Thanks Jacab, I appreciate it!! 🙂
Hi Andrew
I came across this sentence today:
“Los hermanos se están bañando por la tarde.“. Can you help me make sense of the use of “se” here? I can’t seem to fit it into one of the four categories. Even though bathed is a reflexive verb it’s not used in the sentence and the “Se” comes in front of the secondary verb “estar”. I’m cofused. Thank you.
Yes, you are right, “bañarse” is the reflexive verb. And the “se” is coming from ‘bañar’ not ‘estar’. The ‘estar’ is there for the progressive tense “están bañando” (they are bathing). And when we use the progressive tense then the “se” has to go at the front. We could also say:
– Los hermanos se bañan por la tarde (The brothers bathe in the afternoon)
Hi Andrew
I’ve been dealing with “se” for a very long time.
Here’s a sentence “Cuál se te hace más difícil chino o taiwanés?”
How does “se” apply here ? And why can’t it just be “Cuál te hace más difícil chino o taiwanés?” ???
It makes sense to me that the writer puts “se” in this sentence.
I just don’t know why ???
Hola Sasuyu, yes, this is a colloquial phrase in Spanish. In certain constructions, we need to use the reflexive form of a verb and this is a good example of that!
Hola Andrew! You wrote: No dije nada a mis padres, as an example. Why shouldn’t this be: No les dije nada a mis padres?
Thanks!
It’s a really great question Melissa! The answer is that what I wrote is possible and grammatically acceptable but unlikely to occur in Spanish. Let’s say 9 out of 10 sentences that occur in Spanish like this will have the “les” as you suggested. But, the 1 out of 10 times that this kind of sentence occurs without the “les” is still grammatically okay. The purpose of this section is to focus on the combination of “les los” and how this becomes “se los”. So, I left the “les” out because I want students to focus on the “les” and “los” substitutions. But, I still recommend that every student keeps the “les” in their sentences when they speaking.
Thanks Andrew!! I didn’t know that your construction was even possible or understandable so this reply is very helpful!
Okay, I’m glad it was helpful! But, as I mentioned, I still recommend that you always include the indirect objects “le/les” if you think you need them. This is because there are situations, such as a different sentence order, when they are definitely required and you can’t leave them out.
Andrew, this may have been asked already – if so, forgive me.
In the example for ‘impersonal se’, for “They say that…” wouldn’t it be
“Se dicEN que…” rather than “Se dice que….”?
thanks
Thanks Patrick, this has more to do with how we talk about the passive voice in English. If I say “se dice que…” in Spanish, how would you translate this to English?
A more direct translation could be “it is said that…” but we don’t tend to talk like this in English. The most common way to talk in the passive voice in English is “They say that…”. (They say that it is hard to find work around here, they say that you should eat your vegetables, they say that running is the best exercises etc.). All of these sentences could be “se dice” as it is the most common form of the passive voice in Spanish.
Gracias, Andrew. That makes perfect sense.
Hi Andrew-
Just found RealFastSpanish! Checking on the title of a Chris Rea song, does “Se Sequi” mean “I Follow”? Enjoyed reading through all the comments and answers, this is a great site. Thank you for your help!
Thanks for the feedback Deb. I’m not sure about “se sequi”, Google Translate is suggesting that this is Latin and means “to follow”. It does look close to the Spanish “seguir” (to follow) or “sigo” (I follow).
Andrew –
Thank you! Got to research that song…
Your Spanish teaching is easy to understand and captivating
Thanks for the kind words Gurmit! 🙂
If Carlsberg wrote articles about se , this would be it.
Haha, thanks Raymond!! (I think) 🙂
Andrew, I’m a fairly new listener but just wanted to say how I enjoy your casual style and simplistic way of explaining some difficult topics. You seem to be able to appreciate the struggles the majority of people have understanding the nuances of a different language.
Thanks for the kind words Peter! 🙂
Hola, Andrew
In the sentence, “Se me olvidó traer las llaves” why is “se” needed?
Thanks!
Hola Gordon, we can use the verb “olvidar” with or without “se”. When we use “se”, we are using it in a more passive way, which is the purpose of this example in the article.
Andrew–I found your excellent post when researching this sentence:
“El radiador se rompió cuando lo estaba instalando.” I am trying to understand two questions which may be centered on the use of *se* in this sentence.
Q1: Though the answer given is “The heater broke when I was installing it.” Is this a passive *se* used to deflect blame? And should a better answer be “I broke the heater when I was installing it.”
Q2: And speaking of “I,” your example contains *me* (“Se me rompió…) mine does not. Is the “me” necessary? Could we say “He broke the heater when he was installing it?” Can we “deflect” blame for somebody else?
Hola Joseph, for your first question, it seems to be focused on the translation of the Spanish sentence into English, in that case, we have some creative freedom and both options are possible depending on your interpretation. Similarly, with your second question, without the “me” we have less information and so multiple options in English are possible, which is best depends on context.
Hello Andrew,
Thank you for this excellent article as always.
Are you able to make it possible for one to highlight some sentences / words in your articles? Being able to do so will enhance one´s learning.
Saludo
Debo Longe
Hola Debo, thank you for your feedback! Yes, if you print the article out you can highlight the sentences. You can also copy and paste it into a word document and highlight the sentences that way too.
Marvelous explanation!! This cleared up a great deal of confusion for me about the use of “se.” Thanks, Andrew!
Thanks for the feedback Jeanie, I’m glad the article cleared up the confusion! 🙂
A masterpiece explanation of the many ways of using “se”. The best ever explanation I have read so far. Love your teachings.
Thanks for the support Keyur!! 🙂
Now that I have reached the intermediate level, I find your articles do a great job explaining the nuances of structures that I find difficult to understand in Spanish. When double object pronouns are involved, I always need to take a minute to “pick the statement apart” in order to fully understand.
I’m wondering if the structure used for ocurrirse – “Se me ocurre que…” – would fit in one of the above categories, or if it is a different category altogether.
Thanks for sharing your knowledge!
Thanks for the feedback Susan, I’m glad you found the article helpful!! 🙂
Andrew
See if I am making sense. As best as I understand Aguantar = to bear and aguantarse=hang on. In the movie Encantó the song goes – Ay, oruguitas, no se aguanten más. How can one say of the se is reciprocal or pronominal. They can’t bear each other or they can’t hang on more. May not be the best example. Is the context the best judge ? Ellos se comportaron en la discusión. They behaved or they involved each other
Thanks for your insight.
Hola Rajendra, yes, this is a question of context! 🙂 Each situation will give you a clue to the precise meaning. I noticed that you have written “Ay, oruguitas, no se aguantEn más” (note the “e” in aguanten), this turns this phrase into a command. So, I would interpret this as a command to the “oruguitas”, “Don’t hold on too tight”.
Hi Andrew,
Thank you for all of your good work. You are a terrific resource.
You used the sentence, “no dije nada a mis padres.” Even though it seems redundant, I have often heard something like “no les dije nada a mis padres.” Is there a rule here or could it depend on the country?
Thanks,
Jacob
Hola Jacob, it’s a great question! And, I was kind of hoping no one would notice! 🙂 But, in all seriousness, the here rule can be complex and vague. It depends a lot on the order of the sentence. I often recommend that students always include the “les” because you’ll be correct. There are only a few situations where we can drop the “les”, which is the case with this example. But, it would sound just as good with the “les” here and a better habit for students to get into. I included the sentence without the “les” because I wanted to show the contrast in the next sentence where we can replace “a mis padres” with the “les”. All that said, I have talked about this in more detail in our direct and indirect objects article.
I taught for decades and can recognize excellent teaching when I see it. Very well done!
Thanks for the kind words Tony! 🙂