Different Usage Of "se," "le," "lo" And "la" Got Me Confused - SpanishDict

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HomeQ&ADifferent usage of "se," "le," "lo" and "la" got me confusedDifferent usage of "se," "le," "lo" and "la" got me confused4votes

Somehow I started to get confused when I use se and le. Apparently, both mean the same, "he/she/it/you formal." It depends on the context of course.

So, I don't know when to use each of them and if there is any difference. Do you say, "llamrlo/llamarla or llamarle"

"le levanta or se levanta?" "le/se afieta"

For me, both "se" and "le" mean himself in the above-mentioned examples.

My mind is going wild now. :D

Thanks!

Edit: You also say, Dile not dila or dilo.

132319 viewsupdated Jun 28, 2017edited by spunyposted by spuny

3 Answers

4votes

lo is the direct object meaning "him", or a masculine noun "it" or "you" formal in English.

la is the direct object meaning "her", or a feminine noun "it" or "you" formal in English.

le is the indirect object meaning "to him", "to her", or "to you" formal in English.

se replaces le when two pronouns are used in a sentence: Se la dió. He / She gave it to him / her / you.

Now, se can also be the reflexive pronoun referring to "him", "her", "them" or "you" formal singular and plural when you conjugate a reflexive verb in the third person. Don't confuse the reflexive pronoun usage with the indirect object pronoun usage.

updated Jun 28, 2017posted by JubiladoBut we can say, voy a llamrle and voy a llamarlo, right? Then what is the difference? - spuny, Jul 31, 2013Your explanation of when to use "se" made things so much clearer. Thanks. - mellamoshrvjack, Jun 28, 20172votes

I don't know if this will help, Spuny, or if you'll even check on this question even after my post has been posted, but I'll write something anyway just in case you do see after all.

And if someone can help clear this post up to be more legible that'd be great, thanks.!

When we use a verb, there are so many different ones to choose from. Comer, llamar, traer, ser, ir, ver... and so much more! But out of these verbs, there are the ever confusing reflexive verbs. All of these, as you know, end in se. For instance, llamarse, lavarse, rascarse(to scratch oneself), etc.

I noticed in your previous post you used the verbs gustar and llamar. So let's use those as an example. But.... berfore that let's give a quick overview of grammar.

There is something called a direct object pronoun (DOP) and an indirect object pronoun(IOP). A dop is used when the pronoun replaces the name of the direct object. An iop is used to answer the question "To whom?" or "For whom?" the action of the verb is performed for. For the purpose of this 'lesson' we only need to focus on IOP, but just keep the DOP in mind as well, for future reference.

DOP: me / te /lo, la / nos / os / los, las

IOP: me / te / le / nos / os / les

Notice that the DOP and IOP are very similar, but IOP doesn't have a separate form for the third persons.

In gustar, you use this verb to say that A likes B. This verb is perfectly normal (which is me saying that a person doesn't love him or herself using this verb, aka it isn't reflexive), and is conjugated using IOP. (Be careful; the verb gustar changes to singular form gusta or plural form gustan depending on the noun of the sentence.) For example...

Me gusta la estrella.

Te gusta la estrella.

Le gusta la estrella.

Nos gusta la estrella.

Os gusta la estrella.

Les gusta la estrella.

Me gustan las estrellas.

Te gustan las estrellas.

...

you get the idea.

But reflexive verbs use a separate set of pronouns called reflexive pronouns.

Reflexive pronouns: me / te / se / nos / os / se

...Very similar to DOP and IOP, aren't they? :/

These are only tossed in when you order a reflexive verb; they're a set menu, and you can't not use them. They're like.... ketchup to french fries...ish.

.... (stands there blinking...)

Anyway. (clears throat) these reflexive verbs like lavarse shouldn't be confused with other verbs like lavar.

For lavar, you would say...

Yo lavo.

Tu lavas.

El, ella, usted lava.

Nosotros/as lavamos.

Vosotros/as laváis.

Ellos, ellas, ustedes lavan.

But for lavarse, you would say...

Yo me lavo.

Tu te lavas.

El, ella, usted se lava.

Nosotros/as nos lavamos.

Vosotros/as os laváis.

Ellos, ellas, ustedes se lavan.

Do you understand the difference? When you say "Yo lavo", you are saying you wash, like you wash a car or a dog, or whatever. And when you say "Yo me lavo", you are saying you are washing yourself. That's the difference. The verb gustar doesn't have the form gustarse, so it would be WRONG to say "Yo me gusto" or whatever people come up with.

Another example would be llamarse.

For llamar, you would say...

Yo llamo.

Tu llamas.

El, ella, usted llama.

Nosotros/as llamamos.

Vosotros/as llamáis.

Ellos, ellas, ustedes llaman.

But for lavarse, you would say...

Yo me llamo.

Tu te llamas.

El, ella, usted se llama.

Nosotros/as nos llamamos.

Vosotros/as os llamáis.

Ellos, ellas, ustedes se llaman.

The difference is, as before, that llamar is used when a person is calling something, like a friend or an object, and llamarse is used for 'calling themselves', which we translate in English as 'My/his/her/etc name is~.

Did that help?

updated Apr 19, 2017edited by Saphireposted by Saphire2votes

Here is a related post from two days ago.

Direct and Indirect Object Pronouns

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