The Uses of Se in Spanish

Q: How do you say "they say" in Spanish?

Just dicen, with no pronoun: Dicen que va a llover ("They say it's going to rain"). The third person plural without ellos is a common way to talk about unknown people.

Q: Does Spanish have a passive voice?

Yes: ser + a past participle, like fue construido ("was built"). But it's mostly used in writing. In conversation, Spanish usually uses se or the "they" form instead.

Adapted from The Animated Book of Spanish, an interactive Spanish grammar book.

Sometimes it doesn't matter who does something, or you don't know. English says you, they, or people, or uses the passive. Spanish has its own ways of leaving the doer out, and most of them use se:

Impersonal se
General statements about what people do.
Aquí se come muy bien.
You eat really well here.
Passive se
What’s done to something, without saying who does it.
Se venden pisos.
Apartments for sale.
Accidental se
Things that just happened, not on purpose.
Se me olvidaron las llaves.
I forgot my keys.
The “they” form
Someone did it, and it doesn’t matter who.
Me robaron la cartera.
Someone stole my wallet.

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Impersonal se: you, people

For general statements, where English says you, one, or people, Spanish uses se and a verb in the third person singular. The verb is always singular, because there's no subject for it to match.

sese

verb (él form)come

people eat, you eatse come

¿Cómo se dice “apple” en español?
How do you say “apple” in Spanish?
En este restaurante se come muy bien.
You eat really well at this restaurant.
No se puede fumar aquí.
You can’t smoke here.
Desde la terraza se ve el mar.
You can see the sea from the terrace.

Passive se: se venden casas

When the action is done to something, the verb matches that thing: singular for one thing, plural for more than one. It's like saying houses are sold without saying by whom.

One thingMore than one
One thing
Se vende este coche.
This car is for sale.
More than one
Se venden coches usados.
Used cars for sale.
One thing
Aquí se habla español.
Spanish is spoken here.
More than one
Aquí se hablan tres idiomas.
Three languages are spoken here.
One thing
Se necesita un camarero.
Waiter needed.
More than one
Se necesitan camareros.
Waiters needed.

You'll see this all the time on signs and in ads:

se vendefor sale
se alquilafor rent
se buscawanted
se prohíbe fumarno smoking

Impersonal or passive?

The two look alike, since both are se + a verb. The difference is whether there's a thing that the action is done to.

Impersonal: nothing is acted onPassive: something is acted on
Impersonal: nothing is acted on
Aquí se vive bien.
People live well here.
Passive: something is acted on
Aquí se venden libros.
Books are sold here.
Impersonal: nothing is acted on
En esta empresa se trabaja mucho.
People work hard at this company.
Passive: something is acted on
En esta empresa se hacen muebles.
Furniture is made at this company.
Impersonal: nothing is acted on
No se puede entrar.
You can’t go in.
Passive: something is acted on
No se aceptan tarjetas.
Cards aren’t accepted.

Accidental se: se me olvidó

For accidents, Spanish makes the thing the subject, and the person becomes the one it happened to. Instead of I forgot the keys, you say the keys got forgotten on me. It sounds less like your fault.

EnglishI forgot my keys.
LiterallyMy keys got forgotten on me.
SpanishSe me olvidaron las llaves.
EnglishYou dropped the glass.
LiterallyThe glass fell on you.
SpanishSe te cayó el vaso.

The order is always se, then me, te, le…, then the verb. The verb matches the thing that happened: se me olvidó la llave, se me olvidaron las llaves.

Se me perdió el móvil.
I lost my phone.
Se nos acabó la leche.
We ran out of milk.
A mi padre se le quemó la cena.
My dad burned dinner.
Se me rompieron las gafas.
My glasses broke.

Dicen que…: the “they” form

In everyday speech, Spanish very often just uses the third person plural, with no subject, for someone unknown. It's like English they say or someone stole.

Dicen que va a llover.
They say it’s going to rain.
Anoche me robaron el coche.
Someone stole my car last night.
Llaman a la puerta.
Someone’s at the door.
En el banco me pidieron el pasaporte.
At the bank, they asked me for my passport.

The passive with ser

Spanish also has a passive like English: ser + a past participle, with por for who did it. The participle matches the subject. It's mostly used in writing, like the news or history.

La catedral fue construida en el siglo XV.
The cathedral was built in the 15th century.
El libro fue escrito por García Márquez.
The book was written by García Márquez.
Los ladrones fueron detenidos ayer.
The thieves were arrested yesterday.

In conversation, the same ideas usually sound more natural with se or the “they” form:

Passive with serIn conversation
Passive with ser
Los ladrones fueron detenidos.
In conversation
Detuvieron a los ladrones.
The thieves were arrested.
Passive with ser
El puente fue construido en 1900.
In conversation
Se construyó el puente en 1900.
The bridge was built in 1900.

Other kinds of se

Se also shows up in two places that have nothing to do with leaving out the doer:

Other uses of se
Use	Example	Meaning
Reflexive: oneself	Ella se lava.	She washes (herself).
Le or les before lo, la	Se lo di.	I gave it to him.

More in reflexive verbs and double object pronouns. And don't confuse se with sé, with an accent, which means I know: No sé.

Common mistakes English speakers make

Using tú for “you” in general
Incorrect:¿Cómo dices “apple” en español?
Correct:¿Cómo se dice “apple” en español?
When you means anyone, use se.
Not matching the plural
Incorrect:Se vende pisos.
Correct:Se venden pisos.
With passive se, the verb matches the thing: pisos is plural.
Matching the person instead of the thing
Incorrect:Se me olvidé las llaves.
Correct:Se me olvidaron las llaves.
The keys are the subject, so the verb matches them, not you.
Putting me before se
Incorrect:Me se cayó el vaso.
Correct:Se me cayó el vaso.
Se always comes first.
Adding ellos
Sounds unnatural:Ellos me robaron la cartera.
Correct:Me robaron la cartera.
With ellos, it sounds like you know exactly who did it.
Not matching the participle
Incorrect:La casa fue construido en 1950.
Correct:La casa fue construida en 1950.
In the passive with ser, the participle matches the subject.

Questions about se

What is the impersonal se in Spanish?

It's se + a verb in the third person singular, for general statements where English uses "you," "one," or "people": Aquí se come muy bien ("You eat really well here"), ¿Cómo se dice…? ("How do you say…?").

What is the passive se?

It's se + a verb that matches the thing the action is done to: Se vende casa ("House for sale"), Se venden casas ("Houses for sale"). It says what's done without saying who does it.

What does "se me olvidó" mean?

"I forgot." It's the accidental se: literally "it got forgotten on me." Spanish uses it for accidents, so the thing seems to be what happened, not something you did on purpose.

How do you say "they say" in Spanish?

Just dicen, with no pronoun: Dicen que va a llover ("They say it's going to rain"). The third person plural without ellos is a common way to talk about unknown people.

Does Spanish have a passive voice?

Yes: ser + a past participle, like fue construido ("was built"). But it's mostly used in writing. In conversation, Spanish usually uses se or the "they" form instead.

What is the difference between se and sé?

Se (no accent) is the pronoun. Sé (with an accent) means "I know" (from saber) or "be" (a command of ser): No sé ("I don't know").

Next upThe preteriteFinished actions: regular endings, irregular stems, and spelling changes.

Impersonal se

Passive se

Accidental se

The “they” form

Impersonal se: you, people

Passive se: se venden casas

Impersonal or passive?

Accidental se: se me olvidó

Dicen que…: the “they” form

The passive with ser

Other kinds of se

Common mistakes English speakers make

Using tú for “you” in general

Not matching the plural

Matching the person instead of the thing

Putting me before se

Adding ellos

Not matching the participle

Questions about se

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