# Uses of se: Involuntary, Aspectual and Middle

https://langs123.com/en/spanish/pronombres/valores-de-se/
CEFR B2–C2 · 2026-10-19 · CC BY 4.0, langs123 contributors (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

> With the pronoun se, the verb expresses an event with no agent, an unintended event or a completed one: se abrió, se me cayó, se comió. The verb agrees with the thing that changes, not with the person affected: Se rompieron los vasos. Se me cayeron los platos.

## Cheatsheet

| Point | Rule | Example | English |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Middle voice | se + verb: the event happens to the subject, with no agent | Se abrió la ventana. | The window opened. |
| Unintended event | the person affected takes the dative: me / te / le / nos / les | Se nos acabó el tiempo. | We ran out of time. |
| Agreement | the verb agrees with the thing, not with the person | Se me perdieron las llaves. | I lost my keys. |
| ir / irse | irse marks leaving a place; ir, the destination | Me voy de aquí. / Voy a casa de Ana. | I'm leaving here. / I'm going to Ana's house. |
| Pronominal verbs | the verb takes se and a fixed preposition | Me acuerdo de tu casa. | I remember your house. |
| Aspectual se | the delimited object is used up entirely | Felipe se comió un pollo él solo. | Felipe ate a whole chicken all by himself. |
| Possession | the dative names the owner; the body part takes an article | Se le cerraban los ojos. | His eyes were closing. |
| Possessive dative | an article or, for emphasis, a possessive; with body parts, only an article | Se hace la cama. ≠ Se hace su cama. | He makes the bed. ≠ He makes his bed. |
| Trap | se comes first among the unstressed pronouns | Se me perdió el pasaporte. | I lost my passport. |
| Trap | the preposition stays before que | Me di cuenta de que llegaba tarde. | I realised I was late. |

## Overview

- se comes before the other unstressed pronouns: Se te cayó la cartera. / Se les perdió el gato. — You dropped your wallet. / They lost their cat.
- The reflexive and reciprocal uses of se: see Reflexive Verbs.
- The reflexive passive and the impersonal se: see Reported Speech and Passive se.
- The dative and pairs such as se lo: see Indirect Object Pronouns and Two Pronouns Together: se lo.

## Middle-voice se

| Verbs | Meaning | Example | English |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| abrirse / cerrarse / apagarse | an object changes state with nobody doing it | Se abrió la ventana. / Se apagó la luz. | The window opened. / The light went out. |
| romperse / rajarse / estropearse | an object gets damaged | Se rompió el vaso. / Se estropeó la lavadora. | The glass broke. / The washing machine broke down. |
| fundirse / derretirse / congelarse | matter changes with heat or cold | Se fundió el hielo. / Se congeló el lago. | The ice melted. / The lake froze. |
| abrir / romper / fundir | without se, the verb is transitive and someone causes the event | Marta abrió la ventana. | Marta opened the window. |

- The subject comes before or after the verb, and the verb agrees with it: La ventana se abrió. / Se abrieron las ventanas. — The window opened. / The windows opened.
- The adjective solo stresses that nobody intervenes: La puerta se cerró sola. — The door closed by itself.
- A named agent requires the passive with ser, not the middle voice: La ventana fue abierta por Marta. — The window was opened by Marta.

## Se me cayó: reduced responsibility

| Person | Form | Example |
| --- | --- | --- |
| yo | se me + verb | Se me perdió el pasaporte. |
| tú | se te + verb | Se te olvidó la contraseña. |
| él / ella / usted | se le + verb | Se le descargó la batería. |
| nosotros / nosotras | se nos + verb | Se nos acabó el tiempo. |
| vosotros / vosotras | se os + verb | Se os quemó la cena. |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | se les + verb | Se les rompió el televisor. |

| Verbs | Meaning | Example | English |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| perderse / olvidarse / quedarse | something gets lost or left behind by accident | Se me quedó el paraguas en casa. | I left my umbrella at home. |
| caerse / quemarse / mojarse | an accident damages something belonging to the person | Se me cayeron los platos. / Se me quemó el arroz. | I dropped the plates. / I burned the rice. |
| acabarse / terminarse / agotarse | something runs out sooner than expected | Se nos acabó la leche. | We ran out of milk. |
| ocurrirse | an idea comes without being looked for | Se me ocurrió una solución. | A solution occurred to me. |

- The person stops being the agent: the event is presented as unintended: Rompí el vaso. ≠ Se me rompió el vaso. — I broke the glass. ≠ The glass broke on me.
- The verb agrees with the thing, not with the person: Se me perdió la llave. / Se me perdieron las llaves. — I lost my key. / I lost my keys.
- a + person names or highlights the person it happens to: A mí se me olvidó la cita. / A Luis se le olvidó la cita. — The appointment slipped my mind. / The appointment slipped Luis's mind.

## Ir and irse

| Verb | Phase of the movement | Example | English |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| ir | the journey and the destination, with a / hacia | Voy a casa de Ana. | I'm going to Ana's house. |
| irse | leaving the place of origin, with de / desde | Me voy de aquí. / Se fue de la fiesta temprano. | I'm leaving here. / He left the party early. |
| venir | arriving at the place of the speaker or listener | ¿Vienes a mi fiesta? | Are you coming to my party? |
| venirse | moving to the place of the speaker, leaving the place of origin | Mi hermana se vino a vivir conmigo. / Vente conmigo al cine. | My sister came to live with me. / Come to the cinema with me. |
| marcharse | leaving a place, like irse, in a slightly more formal register | Se marchó sin despedirse. | He left without saying goodbye. |

- With a destination, ir is neutral and irse stresses the departure: Voy a casa. ≠ Me voy a casa. — I'm going home. ≠ I'm heading off home.

## Pronominal verbs

| Verb | Preposition | Example | English |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| acordarse | de | Me acuerdo de tu casa. / Acuérdate de llamar a tu madre. | I remember your house. / Remember to call your mother. |
| alegrarse | de | Me alegro de verte. / Nos alegramos de la noticia. | I'm glad to see you. / We're glad about the news. |
| arrepentirse | de | Se arrepintió de su decisión. / Me arrepiento de mentir. | He regretted his decision. / I regret lying. |
| quejarse | de | Los vecinos se quejan de la música. | The neighbours are complaining about the music. |
| atreverse | a | Nadie se atreve a hablar. | Nobody dares to speak. |
| negarse | a | Se negó a pagar. | He refused to pay. |
| darse cuenta | de | Me di cuenta de mi error. | I realised my mistake. |
| enterarse | de | Me enteré de la noticia por la radio. | I found out the news on the radio. |

- Before a subordinate clause, the preposition stays in front of que: Me alegro de que vengas. / Se dio cuenta de que llegaba tarde. — I'm glad that you're coming. / He realised he was late.
- Some pronominal verbs have an equivalent transitive verb, with no pronoun or preposition: Me acuerdo de tu voz. = Recuerdo tu voz. — I remember your voice.

## Aspectual se: the dative of interest

| Verb | Without se | With se |
| --- | --- | --- |
| comer / comerse | Felipe comió pollo. — Felipe ate chicken. | Felipe se comió un pollo. — Felipe ate a whole chicken. |
| beber / beberse | Ana bebió agua. — Ana drank water. | Ana se bebió toda el agua. — Ana drank all the water. |
| tomar / tomarse | Luis tomó café. — Luis had coffee. | Luis se tomó un café. — Luis had a coffee. |
| fumar / fumarse | Mi tío fumó cigarrillos. — My uncle smoked cigarettes. | Mi tío se fumó un cigarrillo. — My uncle smoked a cigarette. |
| leer / leerse | Marta leyó novelas. — Marta read novels. | Marta se leyó la novela en un día. — Marta read the novel in a day. |
| aprender / aprenderse | Sara aprendió inglés. — Sara learned English. | Sara se aprendió el poema de memoria. — Sara learned the poem by heart. |

- The pronoun agrees with the subject and stresses that the object is used up entirely: Felipe se comió un pollo él solo. / Me bebí toda la botella. — Felipe ate a whole chicken all by himself. / I drank the whole bottle.
- The object is delimited: an article, a possessive, a demonstrative or a numeral: Se bebió el agua. / Se bebió tu agua. / Se bebió tres vasos. — He drank the water. / He drank your water. / He drank three glasses.
- Without the pronoun, the sentence is correct and does not stress that everything was consumed: Felipe comió un pollo. ≠ Felipe se comió un pollo. — Felipe ate a chicken. ≠ Felipe ate a whole chicken.

## Middle voice with possession

| Subject | Meaning | Example | English |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| a part of the body | the body acts without the person wanting it | Se me abre la boca. / Se le cerraban los ojos. | My mouth falls open. / His eyes were closing. |
| a part of the body and an emotion | the emotion shows in the body | Se le llenaron los ojos de lágrimas. / Se me erizó la piel. | His eyes filled with tears. / I got goosebumps. |
| a relative | a change in the family affects the person | Se le murió el abuelo. / Se me casó la hermana. | His grandfather died. / My sister got married. |
| a possession | something belonging to the person changes state | Se me apagó el teléfono en plena llamada. | My phone died in the middle of a call. |

- The dative names the owner; the body part takes an article, not a possessive: Se me hinchó el tobillo. — My ankle swelled up.

## Possessive dative with se

| Complement | With an article | With a possessive |
| --- | --- | --- |
| a task of one's own | Se hace la cama. — He makes the bed. | Se hace su cama. — He makes his bed. |
| a drink of one's own | Se tomó el café sin prisa. — He drank the coffee without hurrying. | Se tomó su café sin prisa. — He drank his coffee without hurrying. |
| a meal of one's own, with emphasis | Cada uno se prepara la cena. — Everyone prepares dinner. | Cada uno se prepara su propia cena. — Everyone prepares their own dinner. |
| a part of the body or a piece of clothing: no possessive | Se lavó las manos. — He washed his hands. | — |

- When the owner is not the subject, the possessive is required: Se bebió mi café. — He drank my coffee.

## Typical errors

| ✗ | ✓ | Rule |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Me se cayó el vaso. | Se me cayó el vaso. | se goes before me |
| Se me cayó los platos. | Se me cayeron los platos. | the verb agrees with the thing, not with the person |
| Se perdí la bufanda. | Se me perdió la bufanda. | the affected person goes in the dative, not in the verb |
| Se abrió la ventana por Marta. | La ventana fue abierta por Marta. | a named agent requires the passive with ser |
| Voy de aquí. | Me voy de aquí. | irse marks leaving the place of origin |
| Me di cuenta que llegaba tarde. | Me di cuenta de que llegaba tarde. | darse cuenta keeps de before que |
| Nadie se atreve hablar. | Nadie se atreve a hablar. | atreverse takes a before an infinitive |
| Felipe se comió pollo él solo. | Felipe se comió un pollo él solo. | the object of an aspectual se is delimited |
| Se me abre mi boca. | Se me abre la boca. | the body part takes an article; the dative names the owner |
| Se cortó sus uñas. | Se cortó las uñas. | with body parts and clothes, the dative and the article are enough |