Hello,
I get very confused when coming across these various terms that may or may not mean the same thing.
Can you please tell me how these are called in English, and if any and which ones are synonyms? and am I missing any terms that would fit in this category?
Impersonal refleja (se)
SE IMPERSONAL
Impersonal Refleja
La pasiva refleja
Thank you for your help in deciphering this.
Nicole
Good evening Nicole -
In Spanish, "se" can be used in several different ways; my grammar book devotes many pages to the various possibilities ! ... Perhaps the most important ones are:
[i] To form pronominal verbs, [which are sometimes just reflexive verbs, like 'lavarse' = 'wash yourself'] - but with many of them, adding the 'se' has the effect of changing the meaning slightly;
[ii] To form the passive mood, e.g. 'se vendió la casa' = 'the house was sold';
[iii] (The "Se impersonal"): To translate "one ..." (or "people ...") - e.g. "Se cruza si el semáforo está en verde" = "One crosses if the lights are green".
Hola Nicole
As these are specific grammatical points in Spanish (not English) what they are called in English varies sometimes, but generally you will see:
The passive "se" (English) for pasiva refleja or impersonal refleja (Spanish)
The Impersonal "se" (English) for Se impersonal (Spanish)
Saludos
Hello,
I get very confused when coming across these various terms that may or may not mean the same thing.
Can you please tell me how these are called in English, and if any and which ones are synonyms? and am I missing any terms that would fit in this category?
Impersonal refleja (se)
SE IMPERSONAL
Impersonal Refleja
La pasiva refleja
Thank you for your help in deciphering this.
Nicole
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