¿Comer o comerse? El “se” que marca totalidad e implicación

Mini-quiz: elige la forma reflexiva cuando quieras enfatizar completitud o implicación personal.

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Dannis

2 min reading time

Health Personal growth Verbs Aspects

Keywords:

comerse beberse me he comido No me lo creo saberse

In colloquial Spanish, **se** can mark totality or personal involvement.

- **He comido tortilla** = I ate (some) tortilla / I’ve eaten tortilla (part of it / in general).
- **Me he comido la tortilla** = I ate the WHOLE tortilla.

Use this **pronominal form** to show the action is fully completed.

Tip: if the idea is “all of it / to the very end”, use the pronominal form: - comer → comerse - beber → beberse - (also leer → leerse, etc.) In Spain this sounds very natural in everyday conversation.

Beber vs beberse: - Se bebió el café de un trago = he/she drank the coffee in one go, finished it (action completed). - Without se: Bebió café = he/she drank coffee (in general / some coffee, not necessarily all of it).

Saberse (by heart): - Me sé la letra de la canción = I know the lyrics by heart. Remember: - saber is used for facts / information / skills; - conocer is used for people / places.

Creerse for emotional involvement: - No me lo creo = I don’t believe it / I just can’t believe it (personal emotional reaction). This is very common in Spain when something is surprising.

Extra colloquial: comerse un marrón = to get stuck with an unpleasant problem you didn’t want. Example: - Me he comido el marrón de atender a ese cliente pesado. = I ended up having to deal with that annoying customer.

Comprehension check:

Which sentence emphasizes that they finished ALL of the dish?

He comido paella.

Me he comido la paella.

Como paella a veces.

“Me he comido la paella” adds **se** to mark totality and personal involvement. Without **se** it can be partial or generic.

Think about “completeness”: which one sounds like “I finished it all”?

Complete: “_____ el café de un trago.”

Past tense and a completed action.

Me bebí

Bebí

Me bebo

“Me bebí” (preterite + **se**) emphasizes that you finished it all, in one go.

Use the preterite and the pronominal form to express a completed action.

For the idea “I know it by heart” about a song, which is best?

Me sé la letra.

Conozco la letra de memoria.

Sé a la letra.

With **saber** we talk about facts/information or abilities, and **saberse** is used for “by heart”. **Conocer** is not used with this kind of information (see the rules for saber vs conocer).

Remember: **saber** = facts/skills; **conocer** = people/places.

—Han subido los alquileres otra vez. —_____.

No me lo creo.

No lo sé.

Conozco.

“No me lo creo” uses **creerse** to show a personal reaction (disbelief).

Choose the option that expresses emotional involvement, not just information.