A2
se for “one”, and for the passive
How the impersonal and passive se work in Spanish, how the verb agrees, and why the construction is so common on signs.
Se plus a third-person verb makes a sentence with no subject at all — nobody in particular is doing it.
Aquí se habla español.
here one speaks Spanish
Spanish is spoken here.
¿Cómo se dice esto en español?
how one says this in Spanish
How do you say this in Spanish?
English needs one, you, they or a passive. Spanish has a single construction and uses it constantly — on signs, in recipes, in instructions.
The verb agrees with the thing
When a noun follows, it behaves as the subject, so a plural noun gives a plural verb.
Se vende casa.
one sells house
House for sale.
Se venden casas.
one sells (pl.) houses
Houses for sale.
Se vende casas.
Se venden casas.
Casas is plural, so the verb is. This is the error you will see on badly written signs, and native speakers make it too.
With people, the verb stays singular
Because a personal a marks them as objects rather than subjects.
Se busca a los responsables.
one seeks to the responsible-ones
The people responsible are being sought.
It is not the reflexive, though it looks identical
Se lava is he washes himself. Se lava la ropa aquí is clothes are washed here. Context separates them without difficulty — see reflexive verbs.
And it softens blame
Spanish has a construction that makes an accident happen to you rather than because of you, and it is entirely ordinary.
Se me cayó el vaso.
itself to-me fell the glass
I dropped the glass.
Literally the glass fell itself to me. Saying dejé caer el vaso would insist you were responsible, which is why nobody does.