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From Dutchzijn, z'n(“his, its”). An Afrikaans innovation is the use of se regardless of the number or gender of the possessor, which may be due to a merger with the Dutch genitive suffix -s as well as, perhaps, the adjective suffix -s, -sch.
Üjiyediin Chuluu (Chaolu Wu), Introduction, Grammar, and Sample Sentences for Baoan, SINO-PLATONIC PAPERS (Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA), November 1994
Henry G. Schwarz, The Minorities of Northern China: A Survey (1984), page 140: 'water' Daur os
-se is the full (plena) form of the pronoun. It is normally used after verbs ending with a consonant or ⟨u⟩, or between some adverbs/pronouns and a verb. In some varieties of Catalan (Balearic/Valencian) it can also occur in sentence-initial position.
The use of se and other direct personal pronouns can indicate the passive in Catalan.
Used for passive constructions with transitive verbs and undetermined agent; one
2000, Domingo Frades Gaspar, Vamus a falal: Notas pâ coñocel y platical en nosa fala, Editora regional da Extremadura, Theme II, Chapter 2: Recunquista:
Non poemos analizar con pormenoris estis siglos, pero tampoco se debi toleral que, sin fundamentus, se poña en duda algo que a Historia documentá nos lega sobre nossa terra.
We can’t thoroughly analyse these centuries, but one mustn’t tolerate that, unfoundedly, something documented history tells us about our land be questioned .
The variation in inflectional stems (se-, si-, sii-,) dates back to at least Late Proto-Finnic. The oblique stem si-, seen in most inflected forms, is also found in other Finnic languages, such as the following cognates of the partitive singular sitä: Kareliansitä, Livvisittäh, Vepssidä, Voticsitä. This is possibly a remnant of the original expected form **si (due to final e > i) which was reversed in some forms, possibly by influence from the plural ne.
The stem sii-, seen in internal locative case forms, may have been generalized from the plural forms as a means to distinguish from partitive/essive sitä, sinä; expected internal locative cases **sissä, **sistä may have been avoided as a dissimilation. Compare Vepssiš (inessive singular of se).
that(not pointed at by the speaker; compare tuo, see usage notes)
Sen auton pakoputki on rikki.
That car has a broken exhaust.
Onko sinulla vielä sitä jäätelöä?
Do you still have some of that ice cream?
(colloquial)the(as a definite article; see the usage notes below)
Usage notes
Both tuo and se can be translated as "that"; see tuo for more information on the difference between the two.
In colloquial and dialectal Finnish, se is the usual and neutral personal pronoun in the third person singular, and its standard Finnish counterpart hän is restricted to certain particular uses. Using se of a person carries no negative connotation.
Due to the influence of Germanic languages, and nowadays especially to that of English, se may often be used as a kind of definite article in colloquial Finnish, though in standard Finnish, where word order expresses whether something is definite or indefinite, this colloquial usage is ungrammatical. (Compare the usage of yksi.)
*) See the usage notes under tuo for the difference between se and tuo.
Further reading
Tämä, tuo vai se?. Kielikello (4/2001). An article analyzing the usage and differences between the Finnish demonstrative pronouns tämä, tuo and se. (in Finnish)
“se”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2023-07-03
(not … either, not even):se in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh: A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (’The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language’). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962.
( alternative form of sem):se, redirecting to sem in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh: A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (’The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language’). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962.
1936, N. A. Iljin and V. I. Junus, Bukvari iƶoroin șkouluja vart, Leningrad: Riikin Ucebno-pedagogiceskoi Izdateljstva, page 63:
Linnuille höö siihe kagraa siputtiit.
They sprinkled oats onto it for the birds.
1936, L. G. Terehova, V. G. Erdeli, translated by Mihailov and P. I. Maksimov, Geografia: oppikirja iƶoroin alkușkoulun kolmatta klaassaa vart (ensimäine osa), Leningrad: Riikin Ucebno-Pedagogiceskoi Izdateljstva, page 7:
Inmihiset panniit merkille i sen, etti kaik predmetat päivääl, päivytpaiston aikanna, viskajaat kupahaiset.
People noticed this as well, that all objects during the day, being a sunny time, cast shadows.
Se and neet are anaphoric: That is to say they refer to something previously mentioned (or soon afterwards mentioned) in the conversation. In contrast, too and noo are deictic, and thus refer to physical entities.
Although Junus (1936; p. 99) describes sen as the accusative and senen as the genitive, in practice, sen is often used as a short form of the genitive as well.
In the Soikkola dialect, the functions of too(“that”) have merged into se.
Quando illes se cognosceva? ― When did they meet (each other)?
Used for passive constructions with undetermined agent (translated by "one").
De mi casa se vide le mar. ― From my house the sea is seen. (Literally, “...the sea sees itself.”)
Hence, used for expressions of the type "to get/become ...-ed".
espaventar — “to frighten”; espaventar se = "to get frightened" (lit., "to frighten oneself")
Usage notes
(reflexive, reciprocal, oneself, himself, herself, itself, themselves, each other, one another): Many verbs bear a reflexive pronoun by default. Se must be replaced by me, te, etc., according to the subject.
Third person pronominal forms used as formal terms of address to refer to second person subjects (with the first letter frequently capitalised as a sign of respect, and to distinguish them from third person subjects). Unlike the singular forms, the plural forms are mostly antiquated terms of formal address in the modern language, and second person plural pronouns are almost always used instead.
2
Also used as indefinite pronoun meaning “one”, and to form the passive.
se Dio ti lasci, lettor, prender frutto / di tua lezione ― even if God leaves you, reader, take fruit of your lesson (Dante)
Usage notes
Used to express a conditional with the implicit hope on the part of the speaker that something does or does not happen. Always followed by the subjunctive.
Bot wen im si uol iip a piipl fram di Farisii an Sadyusii gruup a kom fi im baptaiz dem, im se tu dem se, “Unu siniek pikni unu! A uu waan unu fi ron we fram di jojment we a kom?
But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
Pronoun
se
(relative)that(which, who; representing a subject, direct object, indirect object, or object of a preposition)
Bot wen im ier se a Erad pikni, Arkelos, tek uova an did a ruul Judiya, im kech im fried an neehn waahn go de-so. An kaa Gad did waan im aaf iina wan jriim, im lef go Gyalalii insted.
But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he withdrew to the district of Galilee.
(literally, “But when he heard that Herod's child Archelaus took over and was ruling Judea )”)
sēsē is very common as the emphatic form of the accusative pronoun, especially in reference to a preceding ipse, or at the beginning or the end of a clause.
Declension
Latin personal pronouns together with the possessive and reflexive pronouns
Sometimes thought to have been inherited from Arabic سَ(sa), from سَوْفَ(sawfa). However, it is more likely that the similarity is entirely coincidental and that Maltese se(r) is merely a shortened form of sejjer.
Transcriptions of Mandarin into the Latin script often do not distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without indication of tone.
ils se donnerent bataille ― they gave each other battle (they gave battle to each other)
Usage notes
Whether to translate as himself, herself, oneself, itself, themselves or each other depends on the gender (male, female or none) and number (singular or plural).
Usually becomes s' before a vowel. In older manuscripts, it becomes s- with no apostrophe.
(second-class) first-person singular personal pronoun (I, me, my)
Se akanhemu aikú nhaãsé se kirá aikú.
I am scared because I am fat.
Aé uputari upitá se irũmu.
He wants to stay with me.
Se manha uwiké uka pisasú upé.
My mother enters the new house.
Usage notes
As a second-class pronoun, se is used as the subject of a sentence when its verb is a second-class one (those verbs are sometimes referred to as adjectives). The personal pronoun se is also used when governed by any postposition with the exception of arama and supé. Finally, se is used as a possessive pronoun as well.
NAVARRO, Eduardo de Almeida (2016) Curso de língua geral (nheengatu ou tupi moderno): a língua das origens da civilização amazônica, 2nd edition, →ISBN, pages 11 and 108
Đa was on þā tīd Æðelbyrht cyning hāten on Centrīċe, ⁊ mihtiġ: hē hæfde rīċe ōð ġemæro Humbre strēames, sē tōsċēadeð sūðfolce Angelþēode ⁊ nordfolc.
At that time the powerful Athelbert was king of the kingdom of Kent; his authority extended to the boundary of the Humber, which divides the southern English from the northern English.
Ne biþ eall þæt glitnaþ nā gold.
Not everything that glitters is gold.
Usage notes
The word "the" was used somewhat more sparingly in Old English than in the modern language. One reason is, English had only recently developed a word for "the" (sē previously only meant "that"), leaving many nouns and phrases which had a definite meaning but which people continued to use without a definite article out of custom. Examples of words which usually went without the word "the" include:
Names of peoples, such as Engle(“the Angles”), Seaxan(“the Saxons”), and Crēcas(“the Greeks”). Ġelīefst þū þæt Dene magon bēon oferswīðde? (“Do you believe the Danes can be defeated?”).
All river names. On Temese flēat ān sċip (“A boat was floating on the Thames”).
A few nouns denoting types of locations, namely sǣ(“the sea”), wudu(“the woods”), and eorþe(“the ground”). Þū fēolle on eorðan and slōge þīn hēafod (“You fell on the ground and hit your head”). Note that eorþewas often used with a definite article when it meant "the Earth."
"the world," whether expressed with weorold or middanġeard. Iċ eom æt hām on ealre weorolde, þǣr þǣr sind wolcnu and fuglas and mennisċe tēaras (“I feel at home in the whole world, where there are clouds and birds and human tears”).
A couple of abstract concepts, namely sōþ(“the truth”) and ǣ(“the law”). Iċ seċġe ēow sōþ, þæt iċ swerie (“I'm telling you the truth, I swear”).
morgen(“the morning”) and ǣfen(“the evening”). Iċ ārās on lætne morgen and ēode niðer (“I got up late in the morning and went downstairs”).
The four seasons, lencten(“spring”), sumor(“summer”), hærfest(“fall”), and winter(“winter”). On sumore hit biþ wearm and on wintra ċeald (“In the summer it's warm and in the winter it's cold”).
forþġewitennes(“the past”), andweardnes(“the present”), and tōweardnes(“the future”). Þā þe forðġewitennesse ġemunan ne magon, hīe bēoþ ġeniðrode hīe tō ġeedlǣċenne (“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it”).
formasīþ (“the first time”), ōþersīþ (“the second time”), etc. Hwæt þōhtest þū þā þū mē forman sīðe ġemēttest? (“What did you think when you met me for the first time?”).
þīestra (“the dark”). Iċ āwēox, ac iċ nǣfre ne ġeswāc mē þīestra tō ondrǣdenne (“I grew up, but I never stopped being scared of the dark”).
Genitive phrases could include the word "the" before the head noun, but most often did not. Instead, genitive phrases were commonly formed like possessive phrases in modern English, with the genitive noun preceding the head noun ("John's car," not "the car of John"). Thus “the fall of Rome” was Rōme hryre, literally “Rome's fall,” and “the god of fire” was fȳres god, literally “fire's god.”
Henrik Liljegren, Naseem Haider (2011) “se”, in Palula Vocabulary (FLI Language and Culture Series; 7), Islamabad, Pakistan: Forum for Language Initiatives, →ISBN
Henrik Liljegren, Naseem Haider (2011) “se”, in Palula Vocabulary (FLI Language and Culture Series; 7), Islamabad, Pakistan: Forum for Language Initiatives, →ISBN
Henrik Liljegren, Naseem Haider (2011) “se”, in Palula Vocabulary (FLI Language and Culture Series; 7), Islamabad, Pakistan: Forum for Language Initiatives, →ISBN
Henrik Liljegren, Naseem Haider (2011) “se”, in Palula Vocabulary (FLI Language and Culture Series; 7), Islamabad, Pakistan: Forum for Language Initiatives, →ISBN
Aleksander Saloni (1899) “se”, in “Lud wiejski w okolicy Przeworska”, in M. Arct, E. Lubowski, editors, Wisła : miesięcznik gieograficzno-etnograficzny (in Polish), volume 13, Warsaw: Artur Gruszecki, page 244
accessory, when it is used to embellish the verb without its omission impairing the understanding.
"Vão-se os reis, mas as nações ficam."
Kings go, but nations remain.
particle of spontaneity, when it indicates that there was spontaneity in the action by its agent.
Ele morreu-se.
He died.
Usage notes
When the verb precedes se, a hyphen must be used. In Portugal post-verb se is more common, while in Brazil it usually precedes the verb.
(reflexive and reciprocal): Many verb senses take a reflexive pronoun by default; they are called pronominal verbs. Se must be replaced by me, te, etc. according to the subject.
(by extension,impersonal)Used to convey the meaning of the English passive voice in the third person where the impersonal subject does the verb unto itself
Kako se zoveš? ― What's your name? (literally, “What do you call yourself?”)
Kako se to kaže na španjolskom? ― How is that said in Spanish? / How do you say that in Spanish? (literally, “How does it say itself in Spanish?”)
Ovdje se govori španjolski ― Spanish is spoken here (literally, “Spanish speaks itself here.”)
Svjetska prvenstva se igraju ljeti. ― World Cups are played during the summer. (literally, “World Cups play themselves during the summer.”)
tabu se usipera ― fire the gun (literally, “to shoot with the gun”)
Usage notes
Generally, when se takes a human referent, it is associative, and when se takes a non-human referent, it is instrumental, although exceptions do exist.
Zajceva, N. G., Mullonen, M. I. (2007) “та, то, тот”, in Uz’ venä-vepsläine vajehnik / Novyj russko-vepsskij slovarʹ [New Russian–Veps Dictionary], Petrozavodsk: Periodika