se te olvidó
/se te olbido/from spelling rules
The Spanish phrase for "you forgot" is se te olvidó.
This phrase is used to tell someone that they failed to remember something.
What does it mean word for word?
Literally, the phrase is structured as "it forgot itself to you", implying that the memory escaped the person.
Which one should you use?
While the word olvidaste is a direct translation of "you forgot", se te olvidó is much more common in natural speech because it treats the forgetting as an accidental event that happened to the person.
How does it change in a sentence?
The verb must change to the plural form se te olvidaron if the thing that was forgotten is plural.
Did you know?
- In the phrase se te olvidó, the word se is a linguistic survivor from Old Spanish, where it originated from the Latin illī meaning 'to him' or 'to her'.
- Depending on the region, people may use se te pasó to mean 'you forgot' in a more casual sense, literally suggesting the memory 'passed' by the person.
- In some contexts, se me olvidó is used as a polite excuse to avoid admitting a mistake, effectively treating the forgotten task as a third party that acted on its own.
Examples in context
- ¡Se te olvidó la mochila!You forgot your backpack!Tatoeba #1624733 by marcelostockle, translation #1624917 by marcelostockle
- Se te olvidó apagar la luz.You forgot to turn off the light.Tatoeba #10092110 by Shishir, translation #1823855 by Amastan
- Se te olvidó comprar lechuga.You forgot to buy lettuce.Tatoeba #6626464 by clerval, translation #6626425 by Eccles17
- Disculpe, pero olvidó el informe importante en su escritorio.Excuse me, but you forgot the important report on your desk.
- Se le pasó incluir los documentos requeridos.It slipped your mind to include the required documents.
- ¡Te olvidaste de apagar las luces!You forgot to turn off the lights!
- Se te fue el aviso de la reunión.You forgot about the meeting notice.
- No te acordaste de comprar el café.You didn't remember to buy the coffee.
- 4 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Sofía and Javier are leaving the house.
- SofíaJavier, se te olvidó llevar las llaves.Javier, you forgot to take the keys.
- Javier¡Es verdad! Gracias por decirme, Sofía.That's true! Thanks for telling me, Sofía.
- SofíaNo hay problema, ve rápido por ellas.No problem, go get them quickly.
- JavierVuelvo en un segundo.I'll be back in a second.
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries se, te, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
