Phrase · 💥 Mishaps
Se le cayó el celular al agua.
He dropped his phone in the water.
B2mishapses-419Audio · coming soon
Why every word is where it is
Se1object pronoun(itself)3rd · direct objectle1object pronounon him / herél · 3rd sing. · indirect objectcayó2verbfellcaer · past · 3rd sing.el3determinerthe (his)masc. · sing. · definitecelular4nounmobile phonemasc. · sing.al5prepositioninto theagua5nounwaterfem. · sing..
- celular → cayó: agree
- cayó → le: iobj
- celular → el: agree
- cayó → al: prep
Word for word: “The phone fell (on him) into the water.”
Why it's built this way
The notes match the numbers above.
- 1Se le cayó: accidental se. Le marks the person it happened to, without blame. Accidental se and the middle voice →
- 2cayó: preterite of caer, with y between vowels. Preterite II: irregular stems and -ir stem changes →
- 3el celular, not su celular: le already says whose it is. Accidental se and the middle voice →
- 4celular in Latin America; Spain says el móvil.
- 5al agua = a + el. Agua is feminine but takes el because it starts with a stressed a: el agua fría. Articles: el, la, un, una; al and del →
Variations
- Se le cayó el teléfono al agua.
- Se le cayó el celular en el agua.