No Fault Se Constructions ( Se Inocente)

"No Fault" se constructions (“Se” Inocente)

Spanish speakers don't like to take the blame for events which are "beyond their control." Thus, the "no fault" se construction.

There are a small group of commonly used verbs that use this construction. Some of them are listed below: acabar: to run out of caer: to drop ocurrir: to come up with olvidar: to forget perder: to lose quedar: to leave behind romper: to tear ponchar: to get a flat manchar: to stain

Ejemplo: Se me olvidó el pasaporte. Literal: The passport forgot itself, and it wasn't my fault. Translation: I forgot my passport

Ejemplo: Se nos olvidaron los discos compactos Literal: The CDs forgot themselves, and it wasn't our fault. Translation: We forgot the CDs.

Note that the verb is used in the singular or plural according to the subject that appears immediately after it.

The construction:

Se + me + conjugated verb (present o preterit) te (must agree with direct object of the sentence) le nos os les

Traduce con un compañero: Siempre se me pierden las llaves Siempre se te manchan los pantalones Siempre se le occurren buenas ideas. Siempre se nos rompen los vasos Siempre se les olvida todo. Traduzca: Determina si las oraciones necesitan la voz pasiva con se "no fault" o no. 1. I forgot my notebook. (Actually the notebook forgot itself; it wasn't my fault!)

2. Did you stain your pants?

3. They dropped the glasses.

4. We left the papers at home.

5. I ran out of gasoline.

6. Antonio lost his keys.

7. My tire went flat.

Mas práctica: http://fas-digiclass.rutgers.edu/global/skeleton.jsp? page=/spanish/nofaultse.html&dept=spanish (follow link to practice) http://www.colby.edu/~bknelson/exercises/unplanned_se.html http://highered.mcgraw- hill.com/sites/0072326190/student_view0/cap__237_tulo9/prueba_9_2_c.html

Tarea: Powerpoint in Spanish 4/ Passive voice folder “No Fault Se”