se fue
/se fwe/from spelling rules
The English phrase "he left" can be translated into Spanish as se fue.
se fue is used to indicate that a male person departed from a place. It carries the specific nuance of having gone away or departed from a location. This is distinct from verbs that focus purely on the physical act of exiting a room or building.
Which one should you use?
While se fue emphasizes that someone has gone away, the verb salió would focus more specifically on the physical act of exiting a building or a room.
How does it change in a sentence?
se fue is the third-person singular preterite of the reflexive verb irse. Depending on the context, it can mean "he left" or "she left".
Did you know?
- If someone leaves a social gathering without saying goodbye to anyone, it is called irse a la francesa, or 'leaving in the French way'.
- In Spanish, the verb irse is used to describe someone who has passed away, acting as a gentle euphemism for 'he left this world'.
- In Spanish, the word se in this phrase evolved from the Latin illī, meaning 'to him'. This is a rare case where a word originally meaning 'to him' was reanalyzed by speakers into its current form.
Examples in context
- Se fue sin pagar.He left without paying.This sentence shows how to use se fue to describe someone leaving without paying.Tatoeba #7154406 by arh, translation #9194591 by DJ_Saidez
- Se fue sin avisarnos.He left without telling us.This sentence shows how to use se fue to describe someone leaving without notifying others.Tatoeba #3680002 by Seael, translation #3893262 by smdean
- Hace rato que se fue.He left a while ago.This sentence shows how to use se fue to indicate that the departure happened a while ago.Tatoeba #9306259 by arh, translation #299599 by CK
- 44 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Sofía and Alejandro are talking about a friend who disappeared from a gathering.
- Sofía¿Viste a Juan?Did you see Juan?
- AlejandroNo, él se fue hace un momento.No, he left a moment ago.
- SofíaQué extraño, Alejandro.How strange, Alejandro.
- AlejandroSí, se fue de repente.Yes, he left suddenly.
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries se, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
