Hay problemas con los ejemplos de “pasarse”

Question

Están comparando varias frases con pasar y pasarse, pero las traducciones en inglés son iguales. ¿Un error?
Pasó un mes en Canadá con su familia.He spent a month in Canada with his family.Se pasó un mes en Canadá con su familia.He spent a month in Canada with his family.He pasado un día entero escribiendo esta redacción.I spent a whole day writing this essay.Me he pasado un día entero escribiendo esta redacción.
I spent a whole day writing this essay.

Silvia Píriz · Accepted Answer

Hola Doug B.Thanks for pointing this out, you’re absolutely right to notice that the English translations look identical here.This isn’t an error as such, but rather a limitation of English. The difference between “pasar” and “pasarse” is quite subtle and happens at a nuance level (the speaker’s involvement or intensity), which English typically doesn’t reflect explicitly. That’s why both sentences are translated the same way, even though the Spanish conveys a slightly different perspective.That said, we agree that this can be confusing when learning the contrast. We’ve now updated the lesson to include a more detailed explanation to better highlight this nuance and make the distinction clearer.Thanks again for flagging it, it’s really helpful!
Hasta pronto
Silvia