Is "Luis se comió el pastel" the same as "Luis comió todo el pastel", which would just be a crude translation of english?
Presumably "Luis se comió todo el pastel" would be just repetition?
Would "Luis comió el pastel"? allow that he may only have eaten some of it.
"Luis se comió pastel" maybe does not make sense?
Hola nev s.
Yes, your understanding is correct. With the aspectual se, the sentence often conveys a stronger sense of completion or involvement in the action.
For example, Luis comió el pastel is a neutral statement that simply says Luis ate the cake. Depending on the context, this could mean he ate all of it or only part of it.
However, Luis se comió el pastel suggests that he finished the cake or consumed it completely. The se adds emphasis and makes the action feel more complete or more “fully carried out”.
Because of this, Luis se comió el pastel is very close in meaning to Luis comió todo el pastel.
You can also say Luis se comió todo el pastel, which is not repetitive or wrong. In this case, todo makes the idea of completeness completely explicit, while the aspectual se adds extra emphasis or involvement.
On the other hand, Luis se comió pastel sounds unnatural because the aspectual se is usually used with a specific or delimited object, such as el pastel, una pizza, todo el pastel, etc.
Un saludo
Silvia
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