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🔀 Compendium
Grammar
ES
Español — the values of se
The particle se covers several very different functions in Spanish, from reflexive and reciprocal to impersonal and passive.
1
How it works
✓ Rule
As a reflexive or reciprocal pronoun, se marks the subject acting on itself or on one another: Se lava las manos, Se escriben cartas. In the passive refleja and the impersonal, it hides the agent: Se venden casas, Se vive bien aquí. The same form also replaces le/les before lo/la: Se lo di (not le lo di).
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Examples
| Value | Example | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Reflexive | Se lava las manos | he washes his hands |
| Reciprocal | Se escriben cartas | they write each other letters |
| IO le/les → se | Se lo di (a él) | I gave it to him |
| Impersonal | Se vive bien aquí | one lives well here |
| Passive refleja | Se venden casas | houses are sold / for sale |
| Pronominal (lexical) | Se fue sin avisar | he left without warning |
| Aspectual / intensifier | Se comió toda la tarta | he ate up the whole cake |
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Good to know
⚠ Note
Never write le lo: before lo/la the pronoun le/les always becomes se (Se lo di). Watch agreement too — the passive refleja agrees with its subject (Se venden casas, plural), whereas the impersonal se keeps the verb singular (Se vive bien aquí).