Unit 16: Translation considerations (part 5)
16.4 More about the Impersonal se
When the object of an active sentence is a person and the impersonal se construction is used, the personal a precedes what is the subject in English:
| Se despidió a Blanca. | Blanca was fired. |
| Se robó a los turistas. | The tourists were robbed. |
| Se mató al asesino. | The murderer was killed. |
Note that in the above construction the verbs are always in the singular, as opposed to those with non-human subjects, in which the verb is singular or plural, according to the subject and in which the verb usually precedes the subject:
| Se vendieron las llantas. | The tires were sold. |
| Se habla albanés allí. | Albanian is spoken there. |
| Varios dialectos se oyen. | Various dialects are heard. |
In the first group of examples, the a -always grammatically necessary- helps avoid ambiguity. Without the a, the first example could mean “Blanca said good-bye” (despedir = to fire, to dismiss, despedirse de = to say good-bye to).
In a passive sentence in Spanish, the indirect object of the active sentences cannot be the subject. See the examples below:
| Active sentence in English: | Active sentence in Spanish: | Passive sentence in English: | Equivalent of Passive Sentence in Spanish: |
|---|---|---|---|
| They gave me a gift. | Me dieron un regalo. | I was given a gift* | Se me dio un regalo. |
As you never see the literal translation of the English in correct Spanish [the me of the active sentence cannot be the subject –yo– of the passive sentence], Spanish inserts an indirect object pronoun after the se to come up with the equivalent of the passive sentence in English.
*The other passive sentence in English, “A gift was given to me,” could be expressed by the passive voice with an indirect object pronoun: Un regalo me fue dado.
Study these further examples and their translations:
| Se le dijo la verdad por fin. | She was finally told the truth. |
| Se nos contará lo que pasó. | We will be told what happened. |
| Se les preguntó si querían ir. | They were asked if they wanted to go. |
The same construction is also used when the direct object of the active sentence in English is the subject of the passive sentence.
| Active sentence in English: | Active sentence in Spanish: | Passive sentence in English: | Equivalent of Passive Sentence in Spanish: |
|---|---|---|---|
| They will punish him. | Lo castigarán. | He will be punished. | Se le castigará. |
See these similar examples and their translations:
| Se le verá brevemente en la película. | He will be seen briefly in the film. |
| Se la oirá cantar. | She will be heard singing. |
| Se les recompensará. | They will be remunerated. |
| Se las llevará al baile en limusina. | They (female group) will be taken to the dance in a limousine. |
With this particular construction, the combination se lo or se los does not occur.
