Impersonal verbs

Las impersonales

Las oraciones impersonales no tienen un sujeto concreto.

(Impersonal sentences do not have a specific subject.)

Teacher explanation

What this structure is doing (and why Spanish uses it)

These are impersonal structures. They help you talk about:

general opinions and “what people say/think”
evidence (“it was clear/you could see that…”)
expectations (“it was expected that…”)
evaluations (“it was useless/pointless to…”)

They let you avoid naming who says it (no ellos / la gente / los expertos needed).

Two key patterns you must not mix

Pattern	Meaning	Typical follow-up
Se + verb (3rd person singular) Se dice / Se piensa / Se supone / Se veía…	“It is said/thought/supposed/was seen…”	que + clause
Era + adjective + infinitive Era inútil… / Era importante…	“It was useless/important/easy…”	infinitive

Choosing indicative vs subjunctive after “que”

Ask yourself: Is it presented as information/fact or as an expectation/wish?

Use	When	Example
Indicative	Reported information / conclusion from evidence	Se dice que la fibra es importante. Se veía que el paciente estaba cansado.
Subjunctive	Expectation (not a confirmed fact yet)	Se esperaba que los nuevos descubrimientos mejoraran la dieta.

Common pitfall: Se esperaba does not report a fact; it reports an expectation, so it triggers subjunctive.

~~Se esperaba que los cambios reducen el azúcar.~~
Se esperaba que los cambios redujeran el azúcar.

How to build “se dice / se veía / se esperaba” correctly

Use 3rd person singular: Se dice, Se piensa, Se ve, Se veía, Se esperaba.
Then add que + a full sentence.
Tense logic:
- Se dice (present) → “people say (now)”
- Se veía (imperfect) → “it was apparent (then, background)”
- Se esperaba (imperfect) → “it was expected (then)”

Spanish	Natural English
Se dice que…	It is said that… / People say that…
Se veía que…	You could tell that… / It was clear that…
Se esperaba que…	It was expected that…

When you must NOT use impersonal “se”

If the verb is already pronominal (it already has se in the dictionary), avoid adding an impersonal se again.

Pronominal verbs: acostarse, quejarse, sentirse, darse cuenta, etc.
To speak generally, use la gente or uno.

~~En el hospital se acuesta temprano.~~ (wrong: impersonal + pronominal verb)

En el hospital la gente se acuesta temprano.

En el hospital uno se acuesta temprano. (more formal / “one”)

“Era + adjective + infinitive”: what it expresses

Use this pattern to evaluate an action (not to report information).

Era inútil explicárselo. (It was pointless to explain it to them.)
Era importante revisarlo con calma. (It was important to review it calmly.)

Shortcut: if English uses “It was + adjective + to + verb”, Spanish often uses Era + adjective + infinitive.

Self-check: pick the right tool in 10 seconds

Do I want “what people say/think” or “it was obvious”? → Se dice / Se piensa / Se veía + que
Do I want “it was expected”? → Se esperaba + que + subjunctive
Do I want “it was useless/important/easy (to do something)”? → Era + adjective + infinitive
Is my verb already pronominal (ends in -se)? → Use la gente / uno, not impersonal se.

With verbs that already take "se" such as "acostarse", "la gente" or "uno" is used: en el hospital la gente se acuesta temprano.
With se ve, se dice, se piensa, se supone a verb in the indicative is used; with se espera, in the subjunctive.

Structure	Tense	Example
Se dice	+ indicative	Se dice que la fibra es importante. (It is said that fiber is important.)
Se veía	+ indicative	Se veía que el paciente estaba cansado. (You could see that the patient was tired.)
Se esperaba	+ subjunctive	Se esperaba que los nuevos descubrimientos mejoraran la dieta. (It was expected that the new discoveries would improve the diet.)
Era		Era inútil explicárselo. No lo entendían. (It was useless to explain it to them. They didn’t understand it.)

Exercise 1: Multiple choice

Instruction: Choose the correct answer

1. _____ que una dieta rica en fibra dietética reduce el riesgo de picos de glucosa.

2. _____ que, tras varias semanas, controlar las porciones le ayudaba a mantener la ingesta diaria más estable.

3. Se esperaba que los cambios en el menú del comedor _____ el consumo de azúcares añadidos.

4. _____ inútil discutírselo: seguía eligiendo alimentos ultraprocesados aunque leyera las etiquetas nutricionales.

Exercise 2: Rewrite the phrases

Instruction: Rewrite the sentences using an impersonal construction with «se» (se dice/se ve/se piensa/se supone + indicative; se espera + subjunctive) or with «era» + adjective + infinitive, as appropriate.

Show/Hide translation Show/Hide hints

Hint Hint (Se dice) Los nutricionistas dicen que la fibra es esencial para la salud intestinal.

⇒ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Example
Se dice que la fibra es esencial para la salud intestinal.
(It is said that fiber is essential for intestinal health.)
Hint Hint (Se veía) En la consulta era evidente que el paciente estaba cansado después de la analítica.

⇒ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Example
Se veía que el paciente estaba cansado después de la analítica.
(It could be seen that the patient was tired after the lab tests.)
Hint Hint (Se esperaba) Los investigadores esperaban que los nuevos datos mejoraban la dieta mediterránea.

⇒ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Example
Se esperaba que los nuevos datos mejoraran la dieta mediterránea.
(It was expected that the new data would improve the Mediterranean diet.)
Hint Hint (Era) No tenía sentido explicárselo otra vez. No lo entendían.

⇒ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Example
Era inútil explicárselo otra vez. No lo entendían.
(It was useless to explain it to them again. They didn’t understand it.)

Exercise 3: Multiple Choice

Instruction: Choose the correct sentence in each block.