My father in law was looking after my son. When I got home he gave me the report of the day. He said with great pride…

El niño se comió todo.

If I took a textbook definition of el niño se comió, I’d have been worried about my son. You see according to textbook rules, el niño se comió means…

The boy ate himself.

The textbook tells us that se is a reflexive marker meaning himself. That’s fair enough with phrases like these;

se lavo – he washed himself

se afeito – he shaved himself

se corto – he cut himself

They all make sense don’t they?

But the textbook falls apart with…

se comió = he ate himself

Here’s what it really means when you go Beyond The Textbook and understand how native speakers really use their language.

Se comió todo, simply means, he ate UP everything.

In English we can say,

he ate everything

or we can say,

he ate everything UP

UP just gives a bit of extra oomph to the phrase.

And in the Spanish version, SE doesn’t mean up, it just adds emphasis in the same way adding UP does in English.

El niño SE comió todo – the boy ate everything UP


You know after years of living in a Spanish speaking country, I’ve made hundreds of distinctions like these.

These distinctions make it easy for me to understand exactly what native speakers like my father in law are saying.

Knowing these subtleties is essential for understanding advanced Spanish.
Yet, while the textbooks are busy explaining advanced Spanish grammar ,they drop the ball when it comes to this living language.

That’s why I’ve decided to make available a free series of short sharp explanations of everyday living Spanish. They’ll give you a deeper understanding of the way native speakers use their language.

They’ll take you out of the textbook and into the street where the language lives and breathes.

I had to be my own sleuth to figure all this out. You can save years of detective work just by joining my Spanish Beyond the Textbook newsletter.

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