se me olvidó
/se me olbido/from spelling rules
In Spanish, 'I forgot' is translated as se me olvidó.
Use se me olvidó when you want to sound more natural and imply that forgetting was an accidental slip rather than a deliberate act of negligence. If you are referring to multiple things that were forgotten, use se me olvidaron.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase se me olvidó literally translates to 'it forgot itself to me', which implies that the memory slipped away involuntarily rather than being a failure of will.
Which one should you use?
While olvidé is a direct translation of 'I forgot', se me olvidó is much more common in natural conversation as it shifts the blame from the person to the event itself.
How does it change in a sentence?
If the thing you forgot is plural, the verb must change to the plural form se me olvidaron.
Did you know?
- The phrase se me olvidó is a prime example of how Spanish handles 'unintentionality'. This same logic is used for breaking things, where se me rompió suggests the object broke itself rather than the person breaking it.
- The word olvidar is closely related to the English word 'oblivious'. Both share a distant root referring to the act of erasing or forgetting a memory.
- The word se in this phrase is a linguistic survivor that underwent a strange transformation from an old pronunciation of /ʒe/ or /ʃe/ to the modern /se/ we hear today.
Examples in context
- Perdón, se me olvidó.Sorry, I forgot.Tatoeba #1505946 by marcelostockle, translation #1110451 by Scott
- Se me olvidó otra vez.I forgot about it again.Tatoeba #1587444 by marcelostockle, translation #1587443 by CM
- Se me olvidó llamarte.I forgot to call you.Tatoeba #8195152 by arh, translation #3918999 by CK
- Lo siento, se me olvidó comprar los boletos para la reunión.I'm sorry, I forgot to buy the tickets for the meeting.
- Olvidé enviar el informe a tiempo.I forgot to send the report on time.
- 30 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
María and Daniel are in the kitchen.
- María¿Trajiste el azúcar?Did you bring the sugar?
- DanielLo siento, se me olvidó.I am sorry, I forgot.
- MaríaNo te preocupes, Daniel.Don't worry, Daniel.
- DanielIré a la tienda ahora.I will go to the store now.
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries me, se, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
