Se los recomiendo...

[rolfdog]

Hi all, I've ben reading reviews of a hotel/resort written by spanish people
and the phrase se los recomiendo... keeps popping up such as

"se los recomiendo es un magnifico lugar para vacacionar. saludes"

I can't figure out the construction.

I assume they're saying I recommend them/these. Where does "se" fit in?

Is it a passive voice? It is recommended??

Thanks

Steve

 

[apostropheman]

I recommend them to him( or you,them)

 

[Rocky]

Hi all, I've ben reading reviews of a hotel/resort written by spanish people
and the phrase se los recomiendo... keeps popping up such as

"se los recomiendo es un magnifico lugar para vacacionar. saludes"

I can't figure out the construction.

I assume they're saying I recommend them/these. Where does "se" fit in?

Is it a passive voice? It is recommended??

Thanks

Steve

If that's the entire sentence, it's not right.
If it's an excerpt, maybe it makes sense.
But to address the "se" thing, it's just plain weird how it's used in Spanish.
Se rompio = It broke itself?
Se vende = It's selling itself?
I have just learned to accept that it's the way things are said in Spanish.

 

[rolfdog]

Oh. yeah. Le los recomiendo would change to se los recomiendo on that rule of not having two "L" sounds.

Is that right??


Thanks for the quick response apostropheman.

Rocky. I think

Se rompio and se vende are not reflexive (per se) but can be explained by the passive voice. It was broken, it is for sale.

Se hablan espanol, or se permite.

Spanish is spoken or it is permitted.

I agree, "se" is very difficult to understand and use at times!!

 

[andrea9k]

Wow. You guys are having the same trouble I have with english...

Take a look here, http://csli-publications.stanford.edu/LFG/11/lfg06kelling.pdf . It was quite interesting to re-read all the "science" behind of the se-constructions (go to page 5).

Rocky, I don't see anything wrong on the "se los recomiendo..." sentence, maybe I would have placed a comma after recomiendo.

Rolfdog, What rule are you talking about? "Le los recomiendo" is absolutely not right in Spanish.

Jess

 

[Norma Rosa]

Se: dative/accusative form

Hi all, I've ben reading reviews of a hotel/resort written by spanish people
and the phrase se los recomiendo... keeps popping up such as

"se los recomiendo es un magnifico lugar para vacacionar. saludes"

I can't figure out the construction.

I assume they're saying I recommend them/these. Where does "se" fit in?

Is it a passive voice? It is recommended??

Thanks

Steve

Se: dative and accusative form, 3rd. person singular or plural. It has many functions:

1. Reflective effect: Se ba??. Se rompi?.
2. Auxiliary in the passive voice: Se resolvi? el problema. Se vende esta casa.
3. Reciprocative effect: Ellos se aman. Juan y Juana se escriben siempre.
4. Indefinite pronoun (impersonal): Se dice que ella toma mucho.

5. Personal non reflexive pronoun which replaces ?le? or ?les? when it precedes another personal pronoun with ?l? sound (to avoid the resulting cacophony): Se lo dije (Not ?le lo dije.? ?Se lo recomiendo? (and not ?Les lo recomiendo?.)

More on #4:
English uses the impersonal "one" or "you":
One has to study a lot to pass that test. You have to study a lot to pass that test.

Spanish uses the indefinite subject "se" or "uno" with the third person singular form of the verb. ("Usted" is also used but with an impersonal force.)

Aqu? se trabaja mucho. Aqu? uno trabaja mucho. Aqu? usted trabaja mucho.


Hope this helps.
Norma

 

[Rocky]

Rocky, I don't see anything wrong on the "se los recomiendo..." sentence, maybe I would have placed a comma after recomiendo.

A comma or a period would make the sentence valid.
Just blurted out as it was written, does not.

 

[Chip]

Hi all, I've ben reading reviews of a hotel/resort written by spanish people
and the phrase se los recomiendo... keeps popping up such as

"se los recomiendo es un magnifico lugar para vacacionar. saludes"

I can't figure out the construction.

I assume they're saying I recommend them/these. Where does "se" fit in?

Is it a passive voice? It is recommended??

Thanks

Steve

This is not passive as the verb ending of recomendar is the first person. The "se" represents the person to whom the speaker is talking. "Se" is the formal version - if it were informal it would be "te".

The "los" represents what the firat person is recomending. The only problem is that the plural version doesn't seem to match the singular version in the example you provided which in this case is "un magnifico lugar...".

Once you get the hang of the indirect and direct object pronouns they really become quite easy. They are used very much here.

 

[montreal]

Norma`s explanation is very good. 'se los' replaces 'le los'.
We use these direct and indirect objects in English and French as well. Spanish just has an additional rule that says they can`t both start with l`s.

But to address the "se" thing, it's just plain weird how it's used in Spanish.
Se rompio = It broke itself?
Se vende = It's selling itself?

Rocky, I understand where your trouble with the 'se' comes from. As a native francophone, logically 'se vende' would translate to 'il se vend'...Sometimes french and spanish are so similar! Sometimes not.... ; )

 

[RenatoSosua]

THE PASSIVE SE When the agent of passive action is unknown or of no interest, the
alternative passive se construction is used: se + the third person singular
or plural form of the verb (depending on the number of the subject).

?Qu? se hizo?
What was done?

Se nos quitaron las carteras.
Our wallets were taken from us.

Similarly, in announcements or semi-official statements the passive se
construction is used:

Aqu? se habla espa?ol.
Spanish is spoken here.

Se proh?be fumar.
Smoking is prohibited.

source:
Spanish All The Way