Accidents with se: se me olvidó, se me cayó
Talk about things that happen to you by accident, without blaming yourself.
Part of the free B1 Spanish course. Press the speaker next to an example to hear it.
English says I forgot the keys or I dropped the glass. Spanish often says it the other way round: the keys forgot themselves on me, the glass fell on me. This "accidental se" presents the event as unplanned: it just happened, and you were affected.
The pattern
| se | who it happened to | verb | thing |
|---|---|---|---|
| se | me | olvidó | el paraguas |
| se | te | cayeron | las gafas |
| se | le | rompió | el móvil |
| se | nos | acabó | la leche |
| se | os | perdió | el perro |
| se | les | quemó | la cena |
- se always comes first.
- The indirect object pronoun (me, te, le, nos, os, les, from Indirect object pronouns and redundant le) shows who was affected.
- The verb agrees with the thing, not with the person: se me cayó el vaso, se me cayeron los vasos.
- Se me olvidó tu cumpleaños.I forgot your birthday.
- Se me han olvidado las llaves en casa.I've left my keys at home.
- Se nos acabó la leche.We ran out of milk.
- Se me rompieron las gafas en el viaje.My glasses broke on the trip.
- ¿Se os perdió el perro?Did you lose your dog?
To name the person, add a + person at the start, as with gustar:
- A Pablo se le cayó el móvil al agua.Pablo dropped his phone in the water.
- A mi madre se le quemó el arroz.My mother burnt the rice.
Common verbs
olvidar (forget), caer (drop), perder (lose), romper (break), acabar (run out), quemar (burn), escapar (get away, miss), estropear (break down), manchar (stain), morir (die, for pets and plants), ocurrir (occur to).
- Se nos escapó el autobús por un minuto.We missed the bus by a minute.
- Se me murieron todas las plantas en agosto.All my plants died on me in August.
- Se me ha ocurrido una idea genial.I've just had a brilliant idea.
Accident or action?
- Rompí el plato. = I broke the plate (neutral, or even deliberate).
- Se me rompió el plato. = The plate broke on me (an accident).
With an infinitive the verb is singular: Se me olvidó llamarte (I forgot to call you).
Spain and Latin America
Spain uses the present perfect for today: Se me ha olvidado. Latin America mostly uses the preterite: Se me olvidó. Both are fine where they belong.
Common mistakes
Me se cayó: you will hear it in casual speech, but the standard order is se me cayó. Se always goes first.Se me olvidó las llaves: the verb agrees with the plural thing: se me olvidaron las llaves.A Ana se la perdió el pasaporte: the person is an indirect object, so se le (never se la).Se me olvidé: the verb is never in the yo form; the thing is the subject.
Practice
- ¡Ay! _____ cayó el vaso.Options: Se me · Me se · Me · Se
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Se me — Se always comes first: se me cayó.
- A Lucía se le _____ (olvidar) los deberes en casa.
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olvidaron — The verb agrees with los deberes (plural).
- Se nos _____ (acabar) el pan, así que fui a comprar más.
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acabó
- A mis padres se _____ estropeó el coche en la autopista.Options: les · le · los · se
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les — Mis padres is plural: se les.