El «se» accidental: se me cayó
El «se» accidental: se me cayó means “Accidental se: presents an unplanned event as if it happened by itself”. To describe accidents and unintentional events, Spanish uses se + an indirect-object pronoun (me, te, le, nos, os, les) + a third-person verb that agrees with the thing: Se me cayó el vaso (I dropped the glass — literally 'the glass fell on me'), Se le olvidaron las llaves (he forgot the keys). Formation: se + pronombre de OI + verbo 3ª persona: Se me cayó / Se le olvidó
Accidental se: presents an unplanned event as if it happened by itself
B2Formation
se + pronombre de OI + verbo 3ª persona: Se me cayó / Se le olvidó
Explanation
To describe accidents and unintentional events, Spanish uses se + an indirect-object pronoun (me, te, le, nos, os, les) + a third-person verb that agrees with the thing: Se me cayó el vaso (I dropped the glass — literally 'the glass fell on me'), Se le olvidaron las llaves (he forgot the keys). This structure removes blame: the event just happened. The verb is singular or plural depending on the object (Se me rompió / Se me rompieron).
Examples
Note
The verb agrees with the object, not the person: Se me olvidó el nombre / Se me olvidaron los nombres.
FAQ
El «se» accidental: se me cayó — what does it mean and how is it used?
Accidental se: presents an unplanned event as if it happened by itself. To describe accidents and unintentional events, Spanish uses se + an indirect-object pronoun (me, te, le, nos, os, les) + a third-person verb that agrees with the thing: Se me cayó el vaso (I dropped the glass — literally 'the glass fell on me'), Se le olvidaron las llaves (he forgot the keys). This structure removes blame: the event just happened. The verb is singular or plural depending on the object (Se me rompió / Se me rompieron).
El «se» accidental: se me cayó — how do you form it?
se + pronombre de OI + verbo 3ª persona: Se me cayó / Se le olvidó
El «se» accidental: se me cayó — any usage notes?
The verb agrees with the object, not the person: Se me olvidó el nombre / Se me olvidaron los nombres.