How to Use Accidental or Impersonal Se in Spanish Conversation

Imagine you’ve just broken your mom’s favorite flower vase. By accident, of course. 

What do you tell her? 

“Mom, I broke your flower vase.”

But wouldn’t that somehow imply that you did it on purpose? Wouldn’t she be angry?

Or would you say: “Mom, your flower vase got broken,” effectively removing yourself from the picture, shamelessly escaping all consequences.

Probably not.

To express what really happened, you’d most likely say, “Mom, I broke your flower vase by accident.”

This matters to you as a Spanish learner because this marvelous language has its own way to express accidental, unintentional happenings—and you don’t have to say “by accident.”

This useful structure goes by the name impersonal se, also better known as the accidental se.

In this blog post, you’ll learn how to use impersonal se and the conjugation of the parts of the construction. At the end of the lesson, you’ll be able to see if you have mastered the topic by taking a short multiple-choice quiz. 

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Reflexive Verbs and Pronouns: Quick Review
• Indirect Object Pronouns: Another Quick Review
• How To Form and Use the Accidental Se in Spanish
• Accidental Se: Multiple Choice Quiz

Reflexive Verbs and Pronouns: Quick Review

Before I explain accidental se, let’s take a quick look at reflexive verbs and pronouns.

Reflexive verbs help us talk about things we do to and for ourselves. The subject of the sentence (the person performing the action) is always the same as the object of the sentence (the person receiving the action.)

Por las mañanas siempre me peino.
In the mornings, I always comb my hair myself.

To form reflexive constructions, you need the main verb and a reflexive pronoun.

In Spanish, reflexive verbs always appear with personal, self-referential pronouns. Six reflexive pronouns exist, according to the grammatical person:

For the impersonal se constructions, you use the third person reflexive pronoun se, which happens to be the same for both singular and plural verbs. 

Se cayó el florero.
The vase fell.

Se cayeron los vasos.
The glasses fell.

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• Master Reflexive Verbs in Spanish Grammar
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Indirect Object Pronouns: Another Quick Review

Indirect objects are words that tell you to whom or for whom something is done. An indirect object pronoun replaces an indirect object in a sentence.  

Here is the indirect object pronouns chart according to the grammatical person:

Singular Indirect Object Pronouns 

Plural Indirect Object Pronouns 

As you can see, there are only five forms: me, te, le, nos, and les. 

Pedro me llamó.
Pedro called me.

Le compré un regalo.
I bought you a gift.

See also: What You Should Know About Indirect Objects in Spanish

How To Form and Use the Accidental Se in Spanish

You need the reflexive verb constructions with se and the indirect pronouns to understand the use of accidental se in Spanish.

The formula to create impersonal constructions is simple. Since we’ve reviewed the necessary elements, it won’t be a problem for you.

se + indirect object pronoun + verb in third-person singular/plural + subject

        (me, te, le, nos, les)

Se me rompió el florero.
I broke the vase (by accident).

Se le rompieron los vasos.  
He broke the glasses (by accident).

Have you noticed that the third-person verb matches in number the subject of the sentence (florero, vasos)? 

The impersonal and accidental se construction falls somewhere between the passive and active actions. You have a person who performs the action, but they’re not fully responsible, and the action seems to have happened by itself. 

Me and le express that it happened respectively “to me” and “to him.”

The accidental se denotes unintentional, unplanned, unexpected, or accidental situations that happen to a specific person. It takes the “blame” away from the person performing the action.

If you compare it to a passive voice, you’ll know what I mean.

Se rompió el florero.
The vase was broken.

Se rompieron los vasos.
The glasses were broken.

The situation is similar to the impersonal se construction, but no person is mentioned.

The accidental se also sounds different from the active voice sentences:

Rompí el florero.
I broke the vase.

Rompí los vasos.
I broke the glasses.

Here, there’s no place for excuses. It seems that the action was intentional.

Check out: How to Master the Passive Voice in Spanish

Accidental ‘Se‘ as a Courtesy

Spanish speakers also use the accidental se to indicate that something happened to somebody—but that they weren’t to blame. It’s considered a courtesy.

Se le cayó un papelito señor.
You dropped a piece of paper, sir.

Señora, se le olvidó darme el cambio.
Ma’am, you forgot to give me change.

Typical Verbs That Use the Accidental Se

Many verbs appear in the accidental se construction. Here are some of the most common ones:

Example Sentences in Spanish

Se me acabó la comida.
I ran out of food (without meaning to).

Se me cayó tu teléfono.
I dropped your phone (by accident).

Se me derramó el café en mi libro.
I (accidentally) spilled coffee on my book.

Se me ensució mi vestido.
I (accidentally) got my dress dirty.

Se me ocurre algo.
I just thought of something.

Se me olvidaron mis lentes.
I forgot my glasses (by accident).

Se me quedó la arena en mis calcetines.
I got sand in my socks (by accident).

To learn about other uses of se in Spanish, read this entry in Diccionario Panhispánico de Dudas (Panhispanic Dictionary of Doubts) or this article on Mastering the ‘Impersonal Se’ in Spanish.

Accidental se – Multiple Choice Quiz

Note: there’s only one correct answer for each question!

1. Profesor, _____________ olvidó la tarea.
   1. se me
   2. me se
   3. se le 
   4. le se
2. _____________ rompió tu zapato, María.
   1. se me
   2. se te
   3. se le 
   4. Se nos
3. _____________ cayeron los libros, lo siento.
   1. se me
   2. me se
   3. se le 
   4. le se
4. Se _____________ las ventanas a mis vecinos.
   1. me ensució
   2. me ensuciaron
   3. les ensuciaron
   4. nos ensuciaron
5. _____________quemó la espalda al niño.
   1. se me
   2. me se
   3. se le 
   4. le se
6. Se _____________ las manzanas. 
   1. me acabó
   2. te acabaron
   3. me acabaron
   4. Both b and C are correct.
7. Se _____________ nuestro gato.
   1. nos perdió
   2. me perdí
   3. nos perdieron
   4. nos perdimos
8. _____________ocurrió una idea, vámonos al parque.
   1. se me
   2. me se
   3. se le 
   4. le se
9.  _____________ quemó la cena a mi madre.
   1. se me
   2. me se
   3. se le 
   4. le se
10. _____________ derramó la leche y ya no tengo nada que beber.
    1. se me
    2. me se
    3. se le 
    4. le se

See answer key.

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Answer Key to Quiz

1. se me
2. se te
3. se me
4. les ensuciaron
5. se le
6. Both B and C are correct
7. nos perdió
8. se me
9. se le
10. se me

• Author
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Olga Put

Freelance Writer at Homeschool Spanish Academy

I'm a Spanish philologist, teacher, and freelance writer with a Master's degree in Humanities from Madrid. I speak Polish, Spanish, and English fluently, and want to get better in Portuguese and German. A lover of literature, and Mexican spicy cuisine, I've lived in Poland, Spain, and Mexico and I'm currently living and teaching in Madeira, Portugal.

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