{"id":6346,"date":"2019-08-07T10:00:07","date_gmt":"2019-08-07T18:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mydailyspanish.com\/?p=6346"},"modified":"2022-10-09T21:51:42","modified_gmt":"2022-10-10T05:51:42","slug":"passive-se-impersonal-se","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mydailyspanish.com\/passive-se-impersonal-se\/","title":{"rendered":"The Passive Se and Impersonal Se in Spanish"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Se<\/em> is used in lots of different scenarios in Spanish, for example, we see it in reflexive verbs<\/u><\/a>.<\/p>\n

In this lesson, we\u2019ll show you three other ways to use it: Passive se, se + transitive verb + personal a, and impersonal se.<\/p>\n

\"Spanish<\/span><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s get started!<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

via GIPHY<\/a><\/p>\n

You may have heard people talk about the passive voice. It\u2019s pretty much the opposite of the active voice. We use the passive when we want to focus on what\u2019s being done, rather than who\u2019s doing it.<\/p>\n

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In passive constructions, the object of a verb (the thing that\u2019s having something done to it) becomes the subject (the main focus of the sentence). The formula is:<\/p>\n

Noun + ser<\/em> + past participle<\/strong><\/p>\n

For example, in the following sentences, the ball (la pelota<\/em>) and the documents (los documentos<\/em>) go from being the object to being the subject.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t
Tiro la pelota.<\/i><\/td>I throw the ball. (The ball is the object.)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
La pelota es tirada.<\/i><\/td>The ball is thrown. (The ball is the subject. The person throwing it doesn\u2019t matter too much.)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Carmen firm\u00f3 los documentos.<\/i><\/td>Carmen signed the documents. (The documents are the object.)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Los documentos fueron firmados.<\/i><\/td>The documents were signed. (The documents are the subject. Carmen doesn\u2019t matter too much.)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n

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We now have the option to say who did it, using the word por<\/em>:<\/p>\n

Los documentos fueron firmados por Carmen.<\/em><\/p>\n

But that\u2019s totally optional\u2014the documents are more important than Carmen in this passive sentence.<\/p>\n

BEWARE: overuse of this construction can seem unnatural to native speakers, so sometimes you\u2019ll need to avoid it. That\u2019s where this article comes in…<\/p>\n

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1. Passive <\/strong>se <\/strong><\/em>(\u2018<\/strong>se\u2019 pasiva\/\u2019se\u2019 refleja<\/strong><\/em>)<\/strong><\/h2>\n

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The first method is the passive se<\/em>. <\/p>\n

Here are the rules for using the passive se<\/em>:<\/p>\n