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Impersonal “-se”
You probably think of “se” as the Portuguese equivalent of “if,” and rightly so:
Se eu pudesse… = If I could…
Also, reflexive verbs may come to your mind:
Ela magoou-se no joelho.
She hurt herself in the knee.
Now, what you might be missing is “se” as an impersonalizing agent:
Vai-se muito à praia no Verão.
People go to the beach a lot in the summer.
See, that “vai” (ir) followed by “se” is not a reflexive verb. The fact that the verb is in the 3-person and followed by “se” makes the sentence impersonal, as in “people…”
Let’s dive in.
1. Generalizations
Here’s an example of a generalizing statement:
(a) As pessoas bebem em demasia nos dias que correm.
People drink far too much these days.
The previous sentence doesn’t refer to anyone specifically: “people”…
Alternatively, we can make this kind of generalization by using the verb in the 3-person (“bebe”) followed by “-se”:
(b) Bebe-se em demasia nos dias que correm.
If we change the tense, the same principle applies; the only difference is that now our verb comes in the 3-person of the Past tense (P. Imperfeito in this case):
(a) Antigamente as pessoas bebiam em demasia.
(b) Antigamente, bebia-se em demansia.
In the old days, people drank too much.
2. Passive Voice
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