Unplanned events: se me olvidó
To describe accidents and unintended events, Spanish uses se + indirect pronoun + verb. The thing becomes the subject, and the person is presented as the one affected, not guilty.
| se | + person | + verb (agrees with the thing) |
|---|---|---|
| se | me / te / le / nos / os / les | olvidó la cita / olvidaron las llaves |
| Se | me | ha roto el vaso. |
| Se | nos | acabó la leche. |
| Se | le | cayeron las gafas. |
Common verbs
- olvidarse (forget), perderse (lose), romperse (break), caerse (drop), acabarse (run out), ocurrirse (occur to), quemarse (burn), estropearse (break down).
- ocurrirse = have an idea: Se me ocurre una idea.
Examples
- Se me olvidó tu cumpleaños, lo siento.I forgot your birthday, I’m sorry.
- Se nos ha estropeado el coche.Our car has broken down.
- A Juan se le perdieron las llaves.Juan lost his keys.
- ¿Se te ocurre algo?Can you think of anything?
- Se me cayó el móvil.I dropped my phone.
Common mistakes
- ✗ Se me olvidó las llaves.✓ Se me olvidaron las llaves.The thing forgotten is the subject, so the verb is plural with las llaves. English “I forgot my keys” has the person as subject.
- ✗ Me se cayó el vaso.✓ Se me cayó el vaso.Se always comes before me, te or le. English has no rule about pronoun order here.
- ✗ Se me rompí el vaso.✓ Se me rompió el vaso.The verb agrees with the thing that broke, not with the person: rompió.
- ✗ Se acabó me la leche.✓ Se me acabó la leche.The pronouns stand together before the verb: se me acabó. English puts the object after the verb.
- ✗ Yo se me cayó el vaso.✓ Se me cayó el vaso.The person is shown by me, so adding yo duplicates it. English needs “I” as subject.