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Learn how Spanish uses "se" for unplanned events, where the action is viewed as happening to someone, not by someone. Explore examples and nuances of indirect object pronouns.
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Se me perdió el discurso. Se for Unplanned Occurrences (El uso del pronombre se para ocurrencias no planificadas)
Se for Unplanned Occurrences In order to describe an involuntary or unplanned event, Spanish frequently uses se in conjunction with the third-person singular or plural of the verb. The action is not viewed as being carried out by someone, but rather as happening to someone. Hence, that someone is an indirect object, and an indirect object pronoun is used. Se me perdió el discurso. My speech got lost. Se les quedaron las estadísticas en casa. Their statistics were left behind at home.
Se for Unplanned Occurrences Where English uses the possessive adjective, Spanish uses the definite article, since possession is indicated by the indirect object pronoun. The preposition a + noun or pronoun may be added for clarity or emphasis. ¿A ustedes se les olvidó la tarea otra vez? You forgot your homework again? Al senador se le perdieron los papeles. The senator lost his papers.
Se for Unplanned Occurrences Se perdió el dinero. If the indirect object and/or its pronoun is omitted, the sentence is de-personalized, to the extent that we know that something happened, but we do not know who was involved. This sentence tells us that the money got lost (literally, that it lost itself), but not who was the unlucky person involved.
Se for Unplanned Occurrences Se me perdió el dinero. Let’s say that I lost the money. Losing things is not considered desirable behavior, so we continue to say literally that the money lost itself and I was the unfortunate person involved by simply adding an indirect object pronoun. Notice that nothing has changed except the addition of the indirect object pronoun. The subject is still el dinero and the verb structure is still se perdió, and I am not seen as the causal agent.
Se for Unplanned Occurrences Se te perdió el dinero. Now if we wish to say that you lost the money, all that needs to change is the indirect object pronoun. Notice that nothing else in the sentence has changed and you are absolved of guilt because, again, the money lost itself. The same process is used for le, nos, os, and les to indicate the person or persons involved.
