Okay, spanish question! Help please? =D?

Question

Alright, I said "Lo olvidé." To my teacher, saying that I forgot something, and he said that it could be instead as something like "se me olvidó." I'm not sure if that's exactly what he said. I think he said something like it forgot me instead of I forgot it... can anybody help me out with it, and tell me maybe why it says that instead? Any help would be much appreciated.

Answer 1

You got it right, and so did your your teacher.

"Lo olvidé" is correct, although a bit formal and would translate to "I forgot (it)" where the "it" is implied. It's an active voice becuse the action in the phrase was done by you.

"Se me olvidó" is a more colloquial way of saying the same thing, translanting more or less to "it was forgotten by me," though this time the "it" is not implied but included in the phrase (the word "se" indicates the subject/object forgotten without especifying what it is). In this case, it's a passive voice because the structure of the phrase implies that the forgetting done was caused not by you, but by the object forgotten, perhaps by being so forgettable!

In Northern Mexico, where I'm from, it's much more common for people to say "se me olvidó" than "lo olvidé."

Hope that's clear!

Answer 2

Lo olvidé and se me olvidó are both correct.

both mean I forgot it.

Answer 3

"lo olvidé" and "se me olvidó" is fine, but that's south American Spanish. in Spain we say "se me ha olvidado".

Answer 4

According to what my last Spanish professor told me, Spanish speakers would RATHER say "se me olvido" than "lo olvide" because as humans, THE MAJORITY OF THE TIME, we don't like to take responsibility of our actions. Thus, when they say "se me olvido", they're ACTUALLY saying "It made me forget".