“SE” FOR UNPLANNED EVENTS



“SE” For Unplanned Events

Usage: When something happens that is accidental, like running out of, forgetting, or breaking something, in Spanish we use a special grammar construction.

Se me acabó la leche. (I ran out of milk.)

Se le perdieron las llaves. (He/she lost the keys.)

With this construction, the verb actually agrees with what is lost/forgotten/etc. This is unusual, since we are inclined to have the verb agree with the subject (i.e. who did the losing, etc.), but this is NOT the case here. So, to use se for unplanned events, follow these rules:

1. First, ask yourself whether or not the verb is appropriate for this construction. Possible verbs include: acabar (to run out), caer (to fall – in English we’d use this when saying to drop), quedar (to remain- in English think of using this when saying to leave something), olvidar (to forget), perder (to lose), romper (to break), vencer (to expire).

2. Then, form it according to the following:

Se + indirect object pronoun + verb + noun

(who did it happen to) (action, agrees with noun) (what was forgotten, etc.)

Se nos olvidaron los boletos.

(We forgot the tickets.)

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Practice: Complete the sentences using the se: “It wasn’t my fault!!”

El auto no funcionaba porque ____________________________________________________________ la gasolina.

El señor Martínez no pudo leer el menú porque ____________________________________________________ las gafas.

El vino le manchó [stained] la camisa cuando _____________________________________________________ el vaso.

Mi hermano tuvo que lavar los platos en el restaurante porque ______________________________________________ la cartera en casa.

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