se

See also: Appendix:Variations of "se"

Languages (109)

Translingual • English

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Abinomn • Afrikaans • Ahtna • Albanian • Bavarian • Bonan • Breton • Catalan • Central Huasteca Nahuatl • Central Nahuatl • Cimbrian • Coatepec Nahuatl • Czech • Dalmatian • Danish • Dimasa • Esperanto • Ewe • Fala • Faroese • Fijian • Finnish • Franco-Provençal • French • Galician • Garo • German Low German • Gun • Haitian Creole • Hungarian • Ido • Ingrian • Interlingua • Isoko • Istriot • Italian • Jamaican Creole • Japanese • Kalasha • Karelian • Kven • Ladin • Ladino • Latin • Ligurian • Livonian • Lower Sorbian • Ludian • Luxembourgish • Malay • Maltese • Mandarin • Middle Dutch • Middle English • Middle French • Middle Low German • Mpade • Neapolitan • Nheengatu • North Frisian • Northern Kurdish • Norwegian Bokmål • Old English • Old French • Old Frisian • Old Irish • Old Polish • Old Saxon • Old Spanish • Old Swedish • Ometepec Nahuatl • Pennsylvania German • Phalura • Pilagá • Pipil • Polish • Portuguese • Romagnol • Romanian • Romansch • Rwanda-Rundi • Samoan • Serbo-Croatian • Sicilian • Slovene • Spanish • Sranan Tongo • Swedish • Tagalog • Talysh • Tarantino • Ternate • Tocharian A • Tocharian B • Turkish • Tuvaluan • Urhobo • Veps • Vietnamese • Volapük • Volscian • Votic • Welsh • West Frisian • Wutunhua • Yoruba • Zazaki

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Page categories

Translingual

Etymology

Abbreviation of Northern Sami davvisámegiella, Finnish pohjoissaame, or English Sami, northern.(Can this⁽⁺⁾ etymology be sourced? Particularly: “this is likely garbage; the e is just an arbitrary symbol”)

Symbol

se

1. (international standards) ISO 639-1 language code for Northern Sami.

See also

• Wiktionary’s coverage of Northern Sami terms

English

Etymology

From Mandarin 瑟 (sè).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sɛ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛ

Noun

se (plural ses)

1. (music) A type of ancient Chinese plucked zither.

Translations

See se/translations § Noun.

Anagrams

• 'e's, -es, E's, ES, Es, E♭s, E♯s, e's, es, es-

Abinomn

Noun

se

1. cloud

Afrikaans

Alternative forms

• s'n (used without a following noun)
• syn (obsolete)

Etymology

From Dutch zijn, z'n (“his, its”). An Afrikaans innovation is the use of se regardless of the number or gender of the possessor, which may be due to a merger with the Dutch genitive suffix -s as well as, perhaps, the adjective suffix -s, -sch.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sə/

• Audio:

  (file)

Particle

se

1. follows a noun to indicate that this noun possesses that which follows, much like English 's

   Hierdie is my ouma se huis. — This is my grandmother’s house.

See also

• van

Ahtna

Postposition

se

1. first-person singular form of -e

Albanian

Etymology

From Proto-Albanian *tśe(i), *tśi from Proto-Indo-European *kʷe-, *kʷ(e)i- (“how, what”). Interrogative and relative pronoun, especially in connection with a preposition.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sɛ/

Conjunction

se

1. that, as, than

   Më duket se ke nevojë për disa shokë të rinj. — It seems to me that you need some new friends.

   Vëllai im më tha se do të bisedojë me ty rreth librit të ri. — My brother told me that he wants to talk to you about the new book.

Related terms

• si
• sa

References

• Demiraj, Bardhyl (1997), Albanische Etymologien: Untersuchungen zum albanischen Erbwortschatz [Albanian Etymologies: […]] (Leiden Studies in Indo-European; 7)‎^[1] (in German), Amsterdam, Atlanta: Rodopi

Bavarian

Alternative forms

• 's (unstressed form)

Etymology

Cognate with German sie.

Pronoun

se

1. she, her (accusative)
2. they, them

Synonyms

• de

See also

Bavarian personal pronouns

		nominative		accusative		dative
		stressed	unstressed	stressed	unstressed	stressed	unstressed
1st person singular		i	—	mi	—	mia (mir)	ma
2nd person singular	informal	du	—	di	—	dia (dir)	da
	formal	Sie	—	Eahna	—	Eahna	—
3rd person singular	m	er	a	eahm	'n	eahm	'n
	n	es, des	's	des	's
	f	se, de	's	se	's	ihr	—
1st person plural		mia (mir)	ma	uns	—	uns	—
2nd person plural		eß, ihr	—	enk, eich	—	enk, eich	—
3rd person plural		se	's	eahna	—	eahna	—

Bonan

Etymology

From Proto-Mongolic *usun.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sə/

Noun

se

1. water

References

• Üjiyediin Chuluu (Chaolu Wu), Introduction, Grammar, and Sample Sentences for Baoan, SINO-PLATONIC PAPERS (Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA), November 1994
• Henry G. Schwarz, The Minorities of Northern China: A Survey (1984), page 140: 'water' Daur os

Breton

Pronoun

se

1. that, this

   Petra eo se? — What's that?

Catalan

Etymology

From Latin sē.

Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Central) IPA^(key): /sə/
• (Valencia, Alghero) IPA^(key): /se/

Pronoun

se (enclitic, contracted 's, proclitic es, contracted proclitic s')

1. himself, herself, itself (direct or indirect object)
2. oneself (direct or indirect object)
3. themselves (direct or indirect object)
4. each other (direct or indirect object)

Usage notes

• -se is the full (plena) form of the pronoun. It is normally used after verbs ending with a consonant or ⟨u⟩, or between some adverbs/pronouns and a verb. In some varieties of Catalan (Balearic/Valencian) it can also occur in sentence-initial position.
• The use of se and other direct personal pronouns can indicate the passive in Catalan.

Declension

Catalan personal pronouns and clitics

			strong/subject	weak (direct object)		weak (indirect object)		possessive
				proclitic	enclitic	proclitic	enclitic
singular	1st person	standard	jo, mi3	em, m’	-me, ’m	em, m’	-me, ’m	meu
		majestic1	nós	ens	-nos, ’ns	ens	-nos, ’ns	nostre
	2nd person	standard	tu	et, t’	-te, ’t	et, t’	-te, ’t	teu
		formal1	vós	us	-vos, -us	us	-vos, -us	vostre
		very formal2	vostè	el, l’	-lo, ’l	li	-li	seu
	3rd person	m	ell	el, l’	-lo, ’l	li	-li	seu
		f	ella	la, l’4	-la	li	-li	seu
		n		ho	-ho	li	-li	seu
plural
	1st person		nosaltres	ens	-nos, ’ns	ens	-nos, ’ns	nostre
	2nd person	standard	vosaltres	us	-vos, -us	us	-vos, -us	vostre
		formal2	vostès	els	-los, ’ls	els	-los, ’ls	seu
	3rd person	m	ells	els	-los, ’ls	els	-los, ’ls	seu
		f	elles	les	-les	els	-los, ’ls	seu
3rd person reflexive			si	es, s’	-se, ’s	es, s’	-se, ’s	seu
adverbial	ablative/genitive			en, n’	-ne, ’n
	locative			hi	-hi

¹ Behaves grammatically as plural.   ² Behaves grammatically as third person.
³ Only as object of a preposition.   ⁴ Not before unstressed (h)i-, (h)u-.

Central Huasteca Nahuatl

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [se]

Numeral

se

1. one (number).

Central Nahuatl

Central Nahuatl cardinal numbers

<  0	1	2  >
Cardinal : se

Numeral

se

1. one.

Cimbrian

Alternative forms

• ze (Sette Comuni)

Etymology

From Middle High German si(e) (“they”), merged from Old High German sie m pl, sio f pl, siu n pl, from Proto-Germanic *īz m, *ijôz f, *ijō n, the nominative plural forms of *iz. Cognate with German sie, Dutch zij.

Pronoun

se

1. (Luserna) they

Inflection

Personal pronouns (Luserna)

	singular	plural
1st person	i	biar
2nd person	du	iar
3rd person	er, si, 'z	se

References

• “se” in Cimbrian, Ladin, Mòcheno: Getting to know 3 peoples. 2015. Servizio minoranze linguistiche locali della Provincia autonoma di Trento, Trento, Italy.

Coatepec Nahuatl

Numeral

se

1. one.

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈsɛ]

• Audio:

  (file)

Etymology 1

From Old Czech sě, from Proto-Slavic *sę, from Proto-Balto-Slavic *sen, from Proto-Indo-European *swé.

Pronoun

se (reflexive)

1. clitic accusative of sebe:

   oneself

   myself

   yourself

   himself

   herself

   itself

   ourselves

   yourselves

   themselves

   Synonym: (stressed) sebe

Related terms

Czech personal pronouns

		singular	plural
1st person		já	my
2nd person	familiar	ty	vy
	polite	vy
3rd person	m	on	oni1
	f	ona	ony
	n	ono	ona
reflexive		sebe, se (clitic)

¹ animate referents only, for inanimate ones ony is used.

Etymology 2

Preposition

se

1. alternative form of s (used before s, z, and certain consonant clusters)

Further reading

• “se”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “se”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
• “se”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech), 2008–2025

Dalmatian

Etymology

From Latin sē.

Pronoun

se

1. (reflexive pronoun) oneself

Danish

Etymology

From Old Danish se, from Old Norse (East) *sēa, (Old Norse (West) sjá), from Proto-Germanic *sehwaną, cognate with English see, German sehen, from Proto-Indo-European *sekʷ- (“to see, notice”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈseˀ]
• Rhymes: -eːˀ

Verb

se (imperative se, infinitive at se, present tense ser, past tense så, perfect tense har set)

1. to see
2. (reciprocal passive) to see each other

Conjugation

Conjugation of se

active passive present ser ses past så sås infinitive se ses imperative se — participle present seende past set (auxiliary verb have) gerund seen

reciprocal

Conjugation of se

active passive present ses — past sås — infinitive ses — imperative - — participle present - past sets or setes (auxiliary verb have) gerund —

Dimasa

Numeral

sé

1. one

Esperanto

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian se, influenced by French si, Spanish si and Latin sī.

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

• IPA^(key): /se/
• Rhymes: -e
• Hyphenation: se

Conjunction

se

1. if

Ewe

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sé/

Noun

sé (plural sewo)

1. law

Fala

Alternative forms

• si

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese se, sse, from Latin sē.

Pronoun

se

1. Used for passive constructions with transitive verbs and undetermined agent; one
   • 2000, Domingo Frades Gaspar, Vamus a falal: Notas pâ coñocel y platical en nosa fala, Editora regional da Extremadura, Theme II, Chapter 2: Recunquista:

     Non poemos analizar con pormenoris estis siglos, pero tampoco se debi toleral que, sin fundamentus, se poña en duda algo que a Historia documentá nos lega sobre nossa terra.

     We can’t thoroughly analyse these centuries, but one mustn’t tolerate that, unfoundedly, something documented history tells us about our land be questioned [by someone].

2. Reflexive and reciprocal pronoun: oneself, himself, herself, itself, themselves, yourself; each other, one another
   • 2000, Domingo Frades Gaspar, Vamus a falal: Notas pâ coñocel y platical en nosa fala, Editora regional da Extremadura, Anexu: A Porcá:

     Cumían algu de herba por camiñus, se bañaban i os devulvían a casa por as tardis.

     They ate some pasture along the way, bathed themselves and were returned to their home in the afternoon.

Usage notes

• Takes the form -si when suffixed to an impersonal verb form.

See also

Fala personal pronouns

			nominative	dative	accusative	disjunctive
singular	first person		ei	me, -mi		mi
	second person		tú	te, -ti		ti
	third person	m	el	le, -li	uLV, oM	el
		f	ela		a	ela
plural	first person	common	nos	musL nusLV nos, -nusM		nos
		m	noshotrusM			noshotrusM
		f	noshotrasM			noshotrasM
	second person	common	vos	vusLV vos, -vusM		vos
		m	voshotrusM			voshotrusM
		f	voshotrasM			voshotrasM
	third person	m	elis	le, -li	usLV, osM	elis
		f	elas		as	elas
third person reflexive			—	se, -si		sí

Dialects:  ^L Lagarteiru   ^M Mañegu   ^V Valverdeñu

References

• Valeš, Miroslav (2021), Diccionariu de A Fala: lagarteiru, mañegu, valverdeñu (web)‎^[2], 2nd edition, Minde, Portugal: CIDLeS, published 2022, →ISBN, page 255

Faroese

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /seː/

Noun

se n (genitive singular ses, plural se)

1. The name of the Latin-script letter C/c.

Declension

n4	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	se	seið	se	seini
accusative	se	seið	se	seini
dative	se, sei	senum	seum	seunum
genitive	ses	sesins	sea	seanna

Fijian

Conjunction

se

1. whether, or.

Noun

se

1. flower
2. gills

Finnish

Etymology 1

From Proto-Finnic *se, from Proto-Uralic *śe. For plural forms, see etymology of ne. The variation in inflectional stems (se-, si-, sii-) dates back to at least Late Proto-Finnic; see the Proto-Finnic entry for more.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈse/, [ˈs̠e̞]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -e
• Syllabification^(key): se
• Hyphenation^(key): se

Pronoun

se

1. (demonstrative) that (compare tuo, see usage notes)

   Älä koske siihen!

   Don't touch that! (something located close to the speaker)

   Sitäkö sinä sillä tarkoitit?

   That's what you meant by that?

2. (demonstrative) it

   Onko se hän, joka on ovella?

   Is it her who's at the door?

   Ota kortti ja pane se pöydälle kuvapuoli alaspäin.

   Take a card and put it on the table face down.

   Kukas se sieltä tulee?

   Who's it coming over there?

3. the one (who, what, which) (always with a relative clause)

   Se, jolla on eniten pisteitä, on voittaja.

   The one who has the most points is the winner.

   Joka kuritta kasvaa, se kunniatta kuolee.

   [The one] who grows up without discipline dies without honor.

4. (colloquial or dialectal) he, she, one, they sg (of a human being; gender-neutral)

   Synonym: hän

   Se vaan lähti.

   He just left.

Determiner

se

1. that (compare tuo, see usage notes)

   Sen auton pakoputki on rikki.

   That car has a broken exhaust.

   Onko sinulla vielä sitä jäätelöä?

   Do you still have some of that ice cream?

2. (colloquial) the (as a definite article; see the usage notes below)

Usage notes

• Both tuo and se can be translated as "that"; see tuo for more information on the difference between the two.
• In colloquial and dialectal Finnish, se is the usual and neutral personal pronoun in the third person singular, and its standard Finnish counterpart hän is restricted to certain particular uses. Using se of a person carries no negative connotation.
• Due to the influence of Germanic languages, and nowadays especially to that of English, se may often be used as a kind of definite article in colloquial Finnish, though in standard Finnish, where word order expresses whether something is definite or indefinite, this colloquial usage is ungrammatical. (Compare the usage of yksi.)

  (standard)

  Mies tuli luokseni. ― The man came to me.

  Luokseni tuli mies. ― A man came to me.

  (colloquial)

  Se mies tuli mun luokse. ― The man came to me.

  Yks mies tuli mun luokse. ― A man came to me.

• When used independently as adverbs, the external case forms sillä, siltä and sille are generally only used in abstract or possessive meanings; for locations, the corresponding adverbs siellä, sieltä and sinne are used instead.

Inflection

Irregular (singular stems: se-, si-, sii-, plural stems: ne-, nii-).

Declension of se noun case singular plural adverbial form singular plural nominative se ne superessive siellä – genitive sen niiden, niitten delative sieltä – partitive sitä niitä sublative sinne – accusative se, sen ne lative siis – inessive siinä niissä temporal silloin – elative siitä niistä causative siten – illative siihen niihin multiplicative – – adessive sillä niillä distributive – – ablative siltä niiltä temp. dist. – – allative sille niille prolative – – essive sinä niinä situative – – translative siksi niiksi oppositive – – abessive – (niittä) instructive – (niin) comitative – niine

Synonyms

• (he or she): hän
• see (rare, dialectal (Southwestern Finnish))

Derived terms

• se ja se
• se siitä
• sekä
• sellainen
• semmoinen
• sen koommin
• sen pituinen se
• siinähän tuo
• siis
• sikäli
• sikäläinen
• silloin
• silti
• sinne
• sinnes
• sinänsä
• siten
• sitten

compounds

• näetsen
• senaikainen
• senaikuinen
• senhetkinen
• senkaltainen
• senlaatuinen
• senluonteinen
• senniminen
• senperästä
• senpäiväinen
• sentapainen
• sentähden
• senvuotinen
• sitävastoin

Descendants

• Kven: se

See also

Finnish demonstratives

	proximal	distal	neutral/medial
singular	tämä	tuo	se
plural	nämä	nuo	ne
*) See the usage notes under tuo for the difference between se and tuo.

Further reading

• Tämä, tuo vai se?. Kielikello (4/2001). An article analyzing the usage and differences between the Finnish demonstrative pronouns tämä, tuo and se. (in Finnish)
• “se”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎^[3] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 3 July 2023

Etymology 2

Akin to tseh.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈse(ˣ)/, [ˈs̠e̞(ʔ)]
• Rhymes: -e
• Syllabification^(key): se
• Hyphenation^(key): se

Interjection

se (dialectal)

1. here you go; an encouragement to take something, usually something that is being handed over.
2. an encouragement to an animal to eat (food)

Usage notes

Despite being an interjection, some verb-like forms can also be found (sehkää).

Alternative forms

• seh

Anagrams

• es

Franco-Provençal

Etymology

From Latin sī.

Conjunction

se (prevocalic s') (ORB, broad)

1. if

Derived terms

• se vos plét

References

• si [1] in DicoFranPro: Dictionnaire Français/Francoprovençal – on dicofranpro.llm.umontreal.ca
• se in Lo trèsor Arpitan – on arpitan.eu

French

Etymology

From Middle French se, from Old French se, from Latin sē. See also soi.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sə/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio (France):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ə
• Homophone: ce

Pronoun

se m or f (pre-vocalic s')

1. The third-person reflexive and reciprocal direct and indirect object pronoun.
   1. (to) himself
   2. (to) herself
   3. (to) oneself
   4. (to) itself
   5. (to) themselves
   6. (to) each other
2. (Louisiana) The second-person plural reflexive and reciprocal direct and indirect object pronoun.

   Je suis partie à la chasse et faut vous autres se comportes bien. ― I'm going hunting and y'all need to behave yourselves.

Usage notes

• Se becomes s' before a vowel or unaspirated h, and sometimes, in nonstandard writing, in other cases where the e would be silent, e.g. in lyrics.
• Se is often used with an actual subject, but it is also very often used with an abstract subject:

  Il est normal de se parler. — It is normal to talk to oneself.

Derived terms

• s'en aller

Related terms

French personal pronouns

number	person	gender	nominative (subject)	accusative (direct complement)	dative (indirect complement)	locative (at)	genitive (of)	disjunctive (tonic)1	emphatic reflexive	relative	proximal	distal
singular	first	—	je, j’	me, m’		—	—	moi	moi-même	—
	second	—	tu	te, t’		—	—	toi	toi-même	—
	third	masculine	il2	le, l’	lui	y	en	lui	lui-même	celui	celui-ci	celui-là
		feminine	elle	la, l’				elle	elle-même	celle	celle-ci	celle-là
		indeterminate	on3, l’on (formal), ce4, c’, ça	—	—	—	—	—	—	ce	ceci	cela, ça
		reflexive	—	se, s’5		—	—	soi	soi-même	—
plural	first	—	nous	nous		—	—	nous	nous-mêmes	—
	second6	—	vous	vous		—	—	vous	vous-mêmes, vous-même6	—
	third	masculine	ils7	les	leur	y	en	eux7	eux-mêmes7	ceux	ceux-ci	ceux-là
		feminine	elles					elles	elles-mêmes	celles	celles-ci	celles-là

¹ The disjunctive (tonic) forms are also used after an explicit preposition (de/d’, à, pour, chez, dans, vers, sur, sous, ...), instead the accusative, dative, genitive, locative, or reflexive forms, where a preposition is implied.
² Il is also used as an impersonal nominative-only pronoun.
³ On can also function as a first person plural (although agreeing with third person singular verb forms).
⁴ The nominal indeterminate form ce (demonstrative) can also be used with the auxiliary verb être as a plural, instead of the proximal or distal gendered forms.
⁵ The reflexive third person singular forms (se or s’) for accusative or dative are also used as third person plural reflexive.
⁶ Vous is also used as the polite singular form, in which case the plural disjunctive tonic vous-mêmes becomes singular vous-même.
⁷ Ils, eux and eux-mêmes are also used when a group has a mixture of masculine and feminine members.

See also

• The other reflexive and reciprocal direct and indirect object pronouns: me, m', te, t', nous, vous.
• The third-person reflexive and reciprocal disjunctive pronoun: soi.

Further reading

• “se”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

• es, ès

Galician

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /se/ [s̺ɪ]
• Rhymes: -e
• Hyphenation: se

Etymology 1

From Old Galician-Portuguese se (13th century, Cantigas de Santa Maria), from Latin sī.

Conjunction

se

1. if

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Alternative forms

• xe

Pronoun

se

1. accusative/dative of si
2. The third-person reflexive pronoun.
   1. (to) himself
   2. (to) herself
   3. (to) oneself
   4. (to) itself
   5. (to) themselves
   6. (to) each other

References

• Seoane, Ernesto Xosé González; Granja, María Álvarez de la; Agrelo, Ana Isabel Boullón (2006–2022), “se”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval [Dictionary of dictionaries of Medieval Galician] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “se”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “se”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

Garo

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

se

1. husband

Derived terms

• segipa

German Low German

Alternative forms

• sei, sie

Etymology

From Middle Low German sê, variously from Old Saxon sia and Old Saxon siu, ultimately developed from forms of Proto-Germanic *hiz and possibly influenced by Proto-Germanic *sa.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /zeː/, /seː/, /zɛɪ/, /sɛɪ/

Pronoun

se

1. she

   Se is Anke. — She is Anke (Annie).

Pronoun

se

1. they

   Se kaamt ut Bremen. — They come from Bremen.

   • 1861, G. Ungt, Twee Geschichten in Mönstersk Platt. Ollmanns Jans in de Friümde un Ollmanns Jans up de Reise, page 163:

     Dao gävven⁵ sick de Beiden dann auk an, datt se wier by ähr keimen.⁶

     ⁵ gaben – gaben sich an – strengten sich an.   ⁶ zu ihnen kamen.

See also

• dative and possessive of se: ehr, eer, er, är, ähr

Gun

Etymology

From Proto-Gbe *se (“to hear”). Cognates include Fon sè (“to understand, hear, feel”), Saxwe Gbe sè (“to hear”), Adja sè (“to understand, hear, feel, respond”), Ewe se (“to hear”)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sè/

Verb

sè

1. to hear, to listen
2. to understand

Derived terms

• sètónú (“to obey”)

Haitian Creole

Etymology

From French c'est (“it is”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /se/

Verb

se

1. to be
2. that is (compare French c'est)
3. it is (compare French c'est)

Usage notes

• Use ye at the end of a clause.
• This word does not appear when the predicate is an adjective or prepositional phrase, except when the preposition in the prepositional phrase is pou (“for”) or tankou (“like”).

References

• [4]

Hungarian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈʃɛ]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʃɛ

Conjunction

se (clitic)

1. alternative form of sem

Derived terms

Compound words

• sebaj
• sohase
• úgyse

Expressions

• ahol a madár se jár
• se füle, se farka
• se híre, se hamva
• se lát, se hall
• se nem oszt, se nem szoroz
• se szeri, se száma

See also

• se-

Further reading

• (not … either, not even): se in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh: A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (’The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language’). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962.
• ([folksy, informal] alternative form of sem): se, redirecting to sem in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh: A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (’The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language’). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962.

Ido

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /se/, /sɛ/

Etymology 1

From Esperanto se.

Conjunction

se

1. if

   La klerko komencus laborar se ilu povus. — The clerk would begin to work if he could.

   Se me povus, me komprus altra domo. — If I could, I would buy another house.

Etymology 2

From s +‎ -e.

Noun

se (plural se-i)

1. The name of the Latin script letter S/s.

See also

• Latin script letter names: literi: a · be · ce · che · de · e · fe · ge · he · i · je · ke · le · me · ne · o · pe · que · re · se · she · te · u · ve · we · xe · ye · ze ^[edit]

Ingrian

Alternative forms

• see (dialectal)

Etymology

From Proto-Finnic *se. Cognates include Finnish se and Estonian see.

Pronunciation

• (Ala-Laukaa) IPA^(key): /ˈse/, [ˈs̠e̞]
• (Soikkola) IPA^(key): /ˈse/, [ˈʃe̞]
• Rhymes: -e
• Hyphenation: se
• Homophone: že

Pronoun

se

1. this, that (not bound to a specific location)
   • 1936, N. A. Iljin and V. I. Junus, Bukvari iƶoroin șkouluja vart, Leningrad: Riikin Ucebno-pedagogiceskoi Izdateljstva, page 63:

     Linnuille höö siihe kagraa siputtiit.

     They sprinkled oats onto it for the birds.

   • 1936, L. G. Terehova, V. G. Erdeli, translated by Mihailov and P. I. Maksimov, Geografia: oppikirja iƶoroin alkușkoulun kolmatta klaassaa vart (ensimäine osa) [Geography: textbook for Ingrian elementary school third grade (first part)], Leningrad: Riikin Ucebno-Pedagogiceskoi Izdateljstva, page 7:

     Inmihiset panniit merkille i sen, etti kaik predmetat päivääl, päivytpaiston aikanna, viskajaat kupahaiset.

     People noticed this as well, that all objects during the day, being a sunny time, cast shadows.

2. (dialectal) that (distal)
   • 2008, “Läkkäämmä omal viisii [We're speaking [our] own way]”, in Inkeri‎^[5], volume 4, number 69, St. Petersburg, page 12:

     Tämä on Logoven kylä, a se ono Reppoilan kylä.

     This is the village Logovi, and that is the village Reppoila.

Determiner

se

1. this, that (not bound to a specific location)
   • 1936, N. A. Iljin and V. I. Junus, Bukvari iƶoroin șkouluja vart, Leningrad: Riikin Ucebno-pedagogiceskoi Izdateljstva, page 40:

     Peen tulo saatii siint pellost.

     A small income was received from this field.

2. (dialectal) that (distal)

Usage notes

• Se and neet are anaphoric: That is to say they refer to something previously mentioned (or soon afterwards mentioned) in the conversation. In contrast, too and noo are deictic, and thus refer to physical entities.
• Although Junus (1936; p. 99) describes sen as the accusative and senen as the genitive, in practice, sen is often used as a short form of the genitive as well.
• In the Soikkola dialect, the functions of too (“that”) have merged into se.

Declension

Declension of se
	singular	plural
nominative	se	neet
genitive	senen	niijen
accusative	sen	neet
partitive	sitä	niitä
illative	siihe	niihe
inessive	siin	niis
elative	siint, siitä	niist
allative	sille	niille
adessive	sil	niil
ablative	silt	niilt
translative	siks	niiks
essive	senennä	niinnä

Derived terms

• sellain
• sevverta
• siint
• siis
• siks
• sikälitse
• sikäläin
• silloin
• sinis

See also

Ingrian demonstratives
	proximal	neutral	distal
singular	tämä (tää)	se	too
plural	nämät (näät)	neet	noo

References

• V. I. Junus (1936), Iƶoran Keelen Grammatikka‎^[6], Leningrad: Riikin Ucebno-pedagogiceskoi Izdateljstva, page 99
• Ruben E. Nirvi (1971), Inkeroismurteiden Sanakirja, Helsinki: Suomalais-Ugrilainen Seura, page 514
• Olga I. Konkova; Nikita A. Dyachkov (2014), Inkeroin Keel: Пособие по Ижорскому Языку‎^[7], →ISBN, pages 13-14

Interlingua

Pronoun

se (third person)

1. Reflexive: oneself, himself, herself, itself, themselves.

   Illa se videva in le speculo. ― She saw herself in the mirror.

2. Reciprocal: each other, one another.

   Quando illes se cognosceva? ― When did they meet (each other)?

3. Used for passive constructions with undetermined agent (translated by "one").

   De mi casa se vide le mar. ― From my house the sea is seen. (Literally, “...the sea sees itself.”)

4. Hence, used for expressions of the type "to get/become ...-ed".

   espaventar — “to frighten”; espaventar se = "to get frightened" (lit., "to frighten oneself")

Usage notes

• (reflexive, reciprocal, oneself, himself, herself, itself, themselves, each other, one another): Many verbs bear a reflexive pronoun by default. Se must be replaced by me, te, etc., according to the subject.

  infiltrar se — “to infiltrate”

  repentir se — “to repent”

Isoko

Etymology

Cognate with Urhobo se and Urhobo sé.

Verb

se (gerund ese)

1. to read
2. to call

Istriot

Etymology

From Latin sī.

Conjunction

se

1. if
   • 1877, Antonio Ive, Canti popolari istriani: raccolti a Rovigno, volume 5, Ermanno Loescher, page 99:

     Biela, se ti vedissi li galiere

     Beautiful one, if you saw the galleys

Italian

Etymology 1

From Latin sī (“if”) or from Late Latin se(d), from Latin sī and quid ("what").

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /se/^**
• Rhymes: -e
• Hyphenation: se

Conjunction

se

1. if

   Se non è vero, è ben trovato.

   If it is not true, it is a good story.

2. whether
3. if only

Derived terms

• se non
• se non che

Etymology 2

From Latin sē.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /se/^°
• Rhymes: -e
• Hyphenation: se

Pronoun

se

1. alternative form of si

Usage notes

• Used when followed by a third-person direct object clitic (lo, la, li, le, or ne).

See also

Italian personal pronouns

Number	Person	Gender	Nominative	Reflexive	Accusative	Dative	Combined	Disjunctive	Locative	Partitive
Singular	first	—	io	mi, m', -mi			me	me	—
	second	—	tu	ti, t', -ti			te	te
	third	m	lui	si2, s', -si	lo, l', -lo	gli, -gli	glie, se2	lui, sé	ci, c', vi, v' (formal)	ne, n'
		f	lei, Lei1		la, La1, l', L'1, -la, -La1	le3, Le1, -le3, -Le1		lei, Lei1, sé
Plural	first	—	noi	ci, c', -ci			ce	noi	—
	second	—	voi, Voi4	vi, Vi4, v', V'4, -vi, -Vi4			ve	voi, Voi4
	third	m	loro, Loro1	si, s', -si	li, Li1, -li, -Li1	gli, -gli, loro (formal), Loro1	glie, se	loro, Loro1, sé	ci, c', vi, v' (formal)	ne, n'
		f			le, Le1, -le, -Le1
1	Third person pronominal forms used as formal terms of address to refer to second person subjects (with the first letter frequently capitalised as a sign of respect, and to distinguish them from third person subjects). Unlike the singular forms, the plural forms are mostly antiquated terms of formal address in the modern language, and second person plural pronouns are almost always used instead.
2	Also used as indefinite pronoun meaning “one”, and to form the passive.
3	Often replaced by gli, -gli in informal language.
4	Formal (capitalisation optional); in many regions, can refer to just one person (compare with French vous).

Etymology 3

From Latin sīc.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /se/^*
• Rhymes: -e
• Hyphenation: se

Adverb

se

1. (archaic) alternative form of così

Conjunction

se

1. (archaic) alternative form of così: if (only); even if

   se Dio ti lasci, lettor, prender frutto / di tua lezione ― even if God leaves you, reader, take fruit of your lesson (Dante)

Usage notes

• Used to express a conditional with the implicit hope on the part of the speaker that something does or does not happen. Always followed by the subjunctive.

Further reading

• se in Luciano Canepari, Dizionario di Pronuncia Italiana (DiPI)

Jamaican Creole

Etymology

Derived from English say.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /se/

Verb

se

1. to say, to tell
   • 2012, Di Jamiekan Nyuu Testiment, Edinburgh: DJB, published 2012, →ISBN, Matyu 3:7:

     Bot wen im si uol iip a piipl fram di Farisii an Sadyusii gruup a kom fi im baptaiz dem, im se tu dem se, “Unu siniek pikni unu! A uu waan unu fi ron we fram di jojment we a kom?

     But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?

Pronoun

se

1. (relative) that (which, who; representing a subject, direct object, indirect object, or object of a preposition)
   • 2012, Di Jamiekan Nyuu Testiment, Edinburgh: DJB, published 2012, →ISBN, Matyu 2:22:

     Bot wen im ier se a Erad pikni, Arkelos, tek uova an did a ruul Judiya, im kech im fried an neehn waahn go de-so. An kaa Gad did waan im aaf iina wan jriim, im lef go Gyalalii insted.

     But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he withdrew to the district of Galilee.

     (literally, “But when he heard that Herod's child Archelaus took over and was ruling Judea  […])”)

Further reading

• se at majstro.com

Japanese

Romanization

se

1. The hiragana syllable せ (se) or the katakana syllable セ (se) in Hepburn romanization.

Kalasha

Etymology

From Sanskrit स (sa), सा (sā), from Proto-Indo-European *só.

Pronoun

se

1. he/she/it (absent from speaker) (3rd-person personal pronoun)

Coordinate terms

• áya

See also

Kalasha personal pronouns

		singular	plural
1st person		a / آ	ábi / آبی
2nd person		tu / تُو	ábi / آبی
3rd person	near	ía / اِیا	émi / ایمی
	far	ása / آسا	éḷi / ایࣇی
	absent	se / سے	te / تے

Karelian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsʲe/
• Hyphenation: se

Determiner

se

1. (South Karelian) alternative form of še

Pronoun

se

1. (South Karelian) alternative form of še

References

• A. V. Punzhina (1994), “se”, in Словарь карельского языка (тверские говоры) [Dictionary of the Karelian language (Tver dialects)], →ISBN

Kven

Etymology

From Finnish se, from Proto-Finnic *se, from Proto-Uralic *śe.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈse/

Determiner

se

1. this, that

Pronoun

se

1. this, that
2. he, she, it

Declension

Declension of se singular plural nominative se net genitive sen niitten, niinen partitive sitä niitä illative siihen niihin inessive siinä niissä elative siitä, siittä niistä allative sille, sillet niile, niilet adessive sillä niilä ablative siltä niiltä translative sinä niinä essive siksi niiksi

Synonyms

• (he, she): hän

See also

Kven demonstratives

	proximal	neutral	distal
singular	tämä	se	tuo
plural	nämät	net	nuot

Kven personal pronouns

	first	second	third anim	third anim or inan
singular	mie	sie	hän	se
plural	met	tet	het	net

References

• Eira Söderholm (2017), Kvensk grammatikk‎^[8], Tromsø: Cappelen Damm Akademisk, →ISBN, page 278

Ladin

Etymology

From Latin sē.

Pronoun

se

1. (indefinite) one, you, we, they, people. Note: often translated using the passive voice in English.
2. (reflexive pronoun) oneself, himself, herself, itself, themselves; (reciprocal) each other, one another. Note: With some verbs, si is not translated in English.

Ladino

Etymology 1

Inherited from Old Spanish se (“oneself”), from Latin sē.

Pronoun

se m or f by sense (Hebrew spelling סי, third person)

1. third person reflexive direct or indirect object oneself, herself, himself, itself; each other; one another
2. used to convey the meaning of the English passive voice in the third person
   • 2007, Hernán Rodriguez Fisse, “Alkunya Rodrik o Rodriguez”, in El Amaneser, section 27:

     En 1923, se modernizo la identidad de las personas, pero a unos ermanos de mi Papu le metieron en el nufus la alkunya Rodrik, i a la otra mitad de la famiya, la alkunya Rodriges.

     People’s identities were modernised in 1923, but like some of my grandfather’s brothers they put him on the Rodrik surname identity card, and as for my family’s other half, the surname Rodriges.

Usage notes

• (third person reflexive): Se is used as a suffix with verbs in the infinitive and imperative.

Etymology 2

From Old Spanish ge (from Latin illī, compare Portuguese lhe, Italian gli), whose pronunciation shifted from /ʒe/ to /ʃe/ in Early Modern Spanish, at which point it was reanalyzed as /se/ (rather than shifting to /xe/ as expected).

Pronoun

se m or f by sense (Hebrew spelling סי, third person)

1. used instead of indirect object pronouns le and les before the direct object pronouns lo, la, los, or las

Latin

Alternative forms

• sēsē (emphatic, especially in reference to a preceding ipse, or at the beginning or the end of a clause)

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *swé (reflexive pronoun).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈseː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈsɛː]

Pronoun

sē

1. accusative/ablative masculine/feminine/neuter singular/plural of suī (“oneself; himself; herself; itself; themselves”)

   Vōcālis est littera quae per sē syllabam facere potest. ― A vowel is a letter that can form a syllable by itself.

   Quīntus quōmodo sē habet hodiē? ― How's Quintus doing today? (literally, “is holding himself”)

   In mare sē praecipitāvit. ― He drowned himself in the ocean.

2. (reflexive pronoun) the ablative of the third-person singular and plural reflexive pronoun

Declension

Reflexive pronoun.

	singular		plural
	masc./fem./neut.		masc./fem./neut.
nominative	—		—
genitive	suī		suī
dative	sibī̆		sibī̆
accusative	sē sēsē		sē sēsē
ablative	sē sēsē		sē sēsē
vocative	—		—

Derived terms

• inter sē
• per sē
• sēcum
• sēinvicem, sē invicem

Descendants

• Aromanian: se
• Catalan: es, se
• Dalmatian: se
• Franco-Provençal: sè
• French: se, soi
• Galician: se
• Italian: sé, si, -si
• Ladin: se
• Occitan: se
• Portuguese: se
• Romanian: se, sine
• Sicilian: si
• Spanish: se

See also

Latin personal and reflexive pronouns

		singular							plural
		first	second	third			reflexive		first	second	third			reflexive
				m	f	n					m	f	n
nominative		egō̆	tū	is	ea	id	—		nōs	vōs	eī iī	eae	ea	—
genitive	objective	meī mīs1	tuī tīs1	eius			suī		nostrī	vestrī vostrī1	eōrum eum	eārum	eōrum eum	suī
	partitive								nostrum	vestrum vostrum1
dative		mihī̆ mī	tibī̆	eī			sibī̆		nōbīs	vōbīs	eīs			sibī̆
accusative		mē mēmē2+3	tē tētē2+3 tēd1	eum	eam	id	sē sēsē2		nōs	vōs	eōs	eās	ea	sē sēsē2
ablative		mē mēmē2+3	tē tētē2+3	eō	eā	eō	sē sēsē2		nōbīs	vōbīs	eīs			sē sēsē2
vocative		egō̆	tū	—					nōs	vōs	—

1. Pre-classical.
2. Emphatic.
3. Rare.

Ligurian

Etymology

From Late Latin se(d), from Latin sī (“if”) + quid (“what”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /se/

Conjunction

se

1. if

Livonian

Etymology

From Proto-Finnic *se, from Proto-Uralic *śe. Cognates include Finnish se and Estonian see.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈse/, [ˈse]

Pronoun

se

1. that
2. he/she/they

Declension

Declension of se (4)

	singular (ikšlu’g)	plural (pǟgiņlu’g)
nominative (nominatīv)	se	ne
genitive (genitīv)	sīe	nänt
partitive (partitīv)	siedā	nēḑi
dative (datīv)	sīen	näntõn
instrumental (instrumentāl)	sīekõks	näntkõks
illative (illatīv)	sī’ezõ	nē’ži
inessive (inesīv)	sīesõ	nēši
elative (elatīv)	sīestõ	nēšti

References

• Tiit-Rein Viitso; Valts Ernštreits (2012–2013), “se”, in Līvõkīel-ēstikīel-lețkīel sõnārōntõz [Livonian-Estonian-Latvian Dictionary]‎^[9] (in Estonian and Latvian), Tartu, Rīga: Tartu Ülikool, Latviešu valodas aģentūra

Lower Sorbian

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *sę.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [sɛ]

Pronoun

se

1. myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves, oneself
2. each other, one another
3. used to form passives

Derived terms

• se wě

References

• Starosta, Manfred (1999), “se”, in Dolnoserbsko-nimski słownik / Niedersorbisch-deutsches Wörterbuch (in German), Bautzen: Domowina-Verlag

Ludian

Etymology

From Proto-Finnic *se, from Proto-Uralic *śe. Cognates include Finnish se, Estonian see and Veps se.

Pronoun

se

1. it

Declension

Declension of se
	singular	plural
nominative	se	ned
genitive	sen	niiden
partitive	sida	niid
essive	sin	niin
instructive	—	niin
inessive	siiš	niiš
elative	siišpiä	niišpiä
illative	sih	niihe
adessive	sil	niil
ablative	silpiä	niilpiä
allative	sile	niile
abessive	sita	niita
prolative	siči	niiči
translative	sikš	niikš
additive	sihpiä	niihepiä
*) the accusative corresponds with either the genitive (sg) or nominative (pl)

References

• M. Pahomov (2022), Lüüdi-venän, venä-lüüdin sanakirdʹ‎^[10], Helsinki: Lüüdilaine Siebr, →ISBN

Luxembourgish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /zə/

Pronoun

se

1. unstressed form of si

Declension

See Template:lb-decl-personal pronouns for declension.

Malay

Malay cardinal numbers

<  0	1	2  >
Cardinal : se

Alternative forms

• esa
• ĕsă
• sĕ (sĕ-)
• sa (sa-)
• să (să-)
• اسا
• س (س-)

Etymology

Shortened form of esa, from Proto-Malayic *əsa.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sə/
• Rhymes: -sə, -ə

Numeral

se (Jawi spelling س)

1. one

Synonyms

• satu / ساتو
• tunggal / توڠݢل
• eka (eka-) / ايک (ايک-)
• ahad / احد

Derived terms

• se- / س-

Maltese

Root
s-j-r (going)
2 terms

Alternative forms

• ser, sa, ħa

Etymology

Sometimes thought to have been inherited from Arabic سَ (sa), from سَوْفَ (sawfa). However, it is more likely that the similarity is just coincidental and that Maltese se(r) is merely a shortened form of sejjer. It is also possible سَ (sa) influenced the shortening or at least the loss of the r.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sɛ/
• Rhymes: -ɛ

Particle

se

1. Indicates a future tense.

Mandarin

Romanization

se

1. nonstandard spelling of sè

Usage notes

• Transcriptions of Mandarin into the Latin script often do not distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without indication of tone.

Middle Dutch

Pronoun

se

1. accusative of si (“they”)

Middle English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sɛː/, /seː/

Etymology 1

From Old English swē, swǣ, variants of swā (“so”). More at so.

Adverb

se

1. so

Etymology 2

Noun

se

1. alternative form of see (“sea”)

Etymology 3

Noun

se

1. alternative form of see (“see”)

Etymology 4

Pronoun

se

1. alternative form of sche

Middle French

Etymology

From Old French se, from Latin sē.

Pronoun

se

1. The third-person reflexive and reciprocal direct object pronoun.
   1. himself
   2. herself
   3. oneself
   4. itself
   5. themselves
   6. each other
2. The third-person reflexive and reciprocal indirect object pronoun.
   1. to himself
   2. to herself
   3. to oneself
   4. to itself
   5. to themselves
   6. to each other

      ils se donnerent bataille ― they gave each other battle (they gave battle to each other)

Usage notes

• Whether to translate as himself, herself, oneself, itself, themselves or each other depends on the gender (male, female or none) and number (singular or plural).
• Usually becomes s' before a vowel. In older manuscripts, it becomes s- with no apostrophe.

Descendants

• French: se

Middle Low German

Alternative forms

• su, sia

Etymology

Variously from Old Saxon sia and Old Saxon siu, ultimately developed from forms of Proto-Germanic *hiz and possibly influenced by Proto-Germanic *sa.

Pronunciation

• Stem vowel: ê⁴
  • (originally) IPA^(key): /seː/

Pronoun

sê

1. (third person singular female nominative) she
2. her (accusative of sê)
3. (third person plural nominative) they
4. them (accusative of sê)

Declension

See Template:gml-perpron for declension.

Descendants

• Low German: sie
  • Dutch Low Saxon: zee
  • German Low German: se
• Plautdietsch: see

Mpade

Etymology

From Proto-Central Chadic *sa, from Proto-Chadic *sa. Cognate with Matal sa (“to drink”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /se/, [se]

Verb

se

1. to drink

References

• S. Allison, Makary Kotoko Provisional Lexicon (SIL)
• R.C. Gravina, The Phonology of Proto-Central Chadic
• S. Allison, Alphabet et Orthographie de Kotoko de Makary (Mpadɨ) (SIL) (in French)

Neapolitan

Etymology

From Latin sē.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sə/
• Rhymes: -e

Pronoun

se

1. reflexive third person pronoun: oneself, himself, itself, herself, themselves etc.

References

• AIS: Sprach- und Sachatlas Italiens und der Südschweiz [Linguistic and Ethnographic Atlas of Italy and Southern Switzerland] – map 80: “si chiama” – on navigais-web.pd.istc.cnr.it

Nheengatu

Etymology

Inherited from Old Tupi xe.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (unstressed) /se/

• Rhymes: -e
• Hyphenation: se

Pronoun

se

1. (second-class) first-person singular personal pronoun (I, me, my)

   Se akanhemu aikú nhaãsé se kirá aikú.

   I am scared because I am fat.

   Aé uputari upitá se irũmu.

   He wants to stay with me.

   Se manha uwiké uka pisasú upé.

   My mother enters the new house.

Usage notes

• As a second-class pronoun, se is used as the subject of a sentence when its verb is a second-class one (those verbs are sometimes referred to as adjectives). The personal pronoun se is also used when governed by any postposition with the exception of arama and supé. Finally, se is used as a possessive pronoun as well.

Descendants

• >? Pirahã: ti

See also

Nheengatu personal pronouns

singular	first-class pronoun	second-class pronoun
first-person	ixé	se
second-person	indé	ne
third-person	aé	i
plural	first-class pronoun	second-class pronoun
first-person	yandé	yané
second-person	penhẽ	pe
third-person	aintá (or tá)	aintá (or tá)

References

• AVILA, Marcel Twardowsky (2021) Proposta de dicionário nheengatu–português, page 688
• NAVARRO, Eduardo de Almeida (2016) Curso de língua geral (nheengatu ou tupi moderno): a língua das origens da civilização amazônica, 2nd edition, →ISBN, pages 11 and 108

North Frisian

Alternative forms

• sä (Föhr-Amrum)
• siinj (Mooring)

Etymology

From Old Frisian siā, from Proto-Germanic *sehwaną.

Pronunciation

• (Sylt) IPA^(key): [sɛ]

Verb

se

1. (Sylt) to see

Conjugation

Conjugation of se (Sylt dialect)

infinitive I	se
infinitive II	(tö) sen
past participle	sen
imperative	se
	present	past
1st singular	se	saag
2nd singular	sjochst	saagst
3rd singular	sjocht	saag
plural / dual	se	saag
	perfect	pluperfect
1st singular	haa sen	her sen
2nd singular	heest sen	herst sen
3rd singular	heer sen	her sen
plural / dual	haa sen	her sen
	future (skel)	future (wel)
1st singular	skel se	wel se
2nd singular	sket se	wet se
3rd singular	skel se	wel se
plural / dual	skel se	wel se

Northern Kurdish

Etymology

An early loan from Middle Persian [script needed] (sg /⁠sag⁠/), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱwṓ.

Noun

Central Kurdish	سەگ (seg)

se m

1. dog

Synonyms

• kûçik

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Danish se, from Old Norse sjá, from Proto-Germanic *sehwaną.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /seː/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eː
• Hyphenation: se
• Homophones: C, c

Verb

se (imperative se, present tense ser, passive ses or sees, simple past så, past participle sett, present participle seende)

1. to see (perceive with the eyes).

Derived terms

• anse
• etterse
• forutse
• innse
• overse
• påse
• seer
• usett
• utseende

References

• “se” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Old English

Alternative forms

• þē — late nom. masc. sg. form
• þē — Mercian
• sæ, ðē, ðæ — Northumbrian

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *siz, replacing earlier *sā, from Proto-Germanic *sa.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /seː/

Article

sē

1. the

   sē mōna ― the moon

   sēo sunne ― the sun

   þæt seofonstierre ― the Pleiades

   þā steorran ― the stars

Determiner

sē

1. that

   Sele mē þone hamor.

   Give me that hammer.

Pronoun

sē

1. that

   Hē fōr hām, and æfter þām ne ġeseah iċ hine nǣfre mā.

   He went home, and after that I never saw him again.

2. the one / that one

   Hēo nis sēo þe þū oferreċċan þearft.

   She's not the one you need to convince.

   Rǣtst þū nū þās bōc oþþe þā?

   Are you reading this book right now or that one?

   Hwæðer is þīn, þē þæt swearte hors þē þæt hwīte?

   Which one is yours, the black horse or the white one?

3. (relative) that, who, what, which
   • late 9th century, translation of Bede's Ecclesiastical History

     Đa was on þā tīd Æðelbyrht cyning hāten on Centrīċe, ⁊ mihtiġ: hē hæfde rīċe ōð ġemæro Humbre strēames, sē tōsċēadeð sūðfolce Angelþēode ⁊ nordfolc.

     At that time the powerful Athelbert was king of the kingdom of Kent; his authority extended to the boundary of the Humber, which divides the southern English from the northern English.

   Ne biþ eall þæt glitnaþ nā gold.

   Not everything that glitters is gold.

Usage notes

• The word "the" was used somewhat more sparingly in Old English than in the modern language. One reason is, English had only recently developed a word for "the" (sē previously only meant "that"), leaving many nouns and phrases which had a definite meaning but which people continued to use without a definite article out of custom. Examples of words which usually went without the word "the" include:
  • Names of peoples, such as Engle (“the Angles”), Seaxan (“the Saxons”), and Crēcas (“the Greeks”). Ġelīefst þū þæt Dene magon bēon oferswīðde? (“Do you believe the Danes can be defeated?”).
  • All river names. On Temese flēat ān sċip (“A boat was floating on the Thames”).
  • A few nouns denoting types of locations, namely sǣ (“the sea”), wudu (“the woods”), and eorþe (“the ground”). Þū fēolle on eorðan and slōge þīn hēafod (“You fell on the ground and hit your head”). Note that eorþe was often used with a definite article when it meant "the Earth."
  • "the world," whether expressed with weorold or middanġeard. Iċ eom æt hām on ealre weorolde, þǣr þǣr sind wolcnu and fuglas and mennisċe tēaras (“I feel at home in the whole world, where there are clouds and birds and human tears”).
  • A couple of abstract concepts, namely sōþ (“the truth”) and ǣ (“the law”). Iċ seċġe ēow sōþ, þæt iċ swerie (“I'm telling all of you the truth, I swear”).
  • Dryhten (“the Lord”).
  • morgen (“the morning”) and ǣfen (“the evening”). Iċ ārās on lætne morgen and ēode niðer (“I got up late in the morning and went downstairs”).
  • The four seasons, lencten (“spring”), sumor (“summer”), hærfest (“fall”), and winter (“winter”). On sumore hit biþ wearm and on wintra ċeald (“In the summer it's warm and in the winter it's cold”).
  • forþġewitennes (“the past”), andweardnes (“the present”), and tōweardnes (“the future”). Þā þe forðġewitennesse ġemunan ne magon, hīe bēoþ ġeniðrode hīe tō ġeedlǣċenne (“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it”).
  • forma sīþ (“the first time”), ōþer sīþ (“the second time”), etc. Hwæt þōhtest þū þā þū mē forman sīðe ġemēttest? (“What did you think when you met me for the first time?”).
  • þīestra (“the dark”). Iċ āwēox, ac iċ nǣfre ne ġeswāc mē þīestra tō ondrǣdenne (“I grew up, but I never stopped being scared of the dark”).
  • Genitive phrases could include the word "the" before the head noun, but most often did not. Instead, genitive phrases were commonly formed like possessive phrases in modern English, with the genitive noun preceding the head noun ("John's car," not "the car of John"). Thus “the fall of Rome” was Rōme hryre, literally “Rome's fall,” and “the god of fire” was fȳres god, literally “fire's god.”

Declension

Declension of se

Singular	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	sē, þē	sēo, þēo	þæt
Accusative	þone	þā	þæt
Genitive	þæs	þǣre	þæs
Dative	þām, þǣm	þǣre	þām, þǣm
Instrumental	þon, þȳ, þē	þǣre	þon, þȳ, þē
	Plural
Nominative		þā
Accusative		þā
Genitive		þāra
Dative		þām, þǣm
Instrumental		þām, þǣm

Quotations

For quotations using this term, see Citations:se.

Descendants

• Middle English: se, ze, sæ

Old French

Etymology 1

From Latin sē.

Alternative forms

• sei
• soi

Pronoun

se m or f (invariable)

1. himself (reflexive direct and indirect third-person singular pronoun)
2. herself (reflexive direct and indirect third-person singular pronoun)
3. itself (reflexive direct and indirect third-person singular pronoun)
4. oneself (reflexive direct and indirect third-person singular pronoun)
5. themselves (reflexive direct and indirect third-person plural pronoun)

Descendants

• French: se

Etymology 2

From Latin si.

Conjunction

se

1. if
2. then (afterwards; following)

Descendants

• French: si

Old Frisian

Pronoun

se

1. she
2. they

Old Irish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sʲe/

Determiner

se

1. alternative form of so used after palatalized consonants and front vowels

Old Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (10^th–15^th CE) /sɛ/
• IPA^(key): (15^th CE) /sɛ/

Preposition

se

1. alternative form of z

Old Saxon

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *sa.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sɛː/

Article

sē m (demonstrative)

1. definite article: the

   sē māno ― the moon

2. demonstrative adjective: that, those

   Hē gaf thē gift. ― He gave that gift.

Declension

Declension of sē

	singular			plural
	masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative	sē	that	sīu	thē
accusative	than	that	thē	thē
genitive	thēs	thēs	thēra	thēra
dative	thēm	thēm	thēra	thēm
instrumental	thiu, thia, thuo, thuru		—

Old Spanish

Etymology

Inherited from Latin sē.

Pronoun

se

1. third person reflexive direct or indirect object oneself, herself, himself or itself; each other; one another
   • c. 1200, Almerich, Fazienda de Ultramar, f. 78r:

     Eſte herodes Murio mala muerte deuẏno gafo de pues por la grãt pudor q̃ ſalẏo del ⁊ nõ lo podie ſofrir. el Miſmo ſe mato cõ .j. guchiello.

     This Herod died a bad death. He became leprous [and] then, because of the great shame which he displayed and could not bear, he killed himself with a knife.

2. Used to convey the meaning of the English passive voice in the third person.
   • c. 1132, Cartularios de Valpuesta‎^[11], doc 162:

     […] et abet se adimplir del poço de sancto Dominico per foro […]

     And it is to be fulfilled from the well of Saint Dominic by charter.

Usage notes

• (third person reflexive): Se is used as a suffix with verbs in the infinitive and imperative.

Descendants

• Ladino: se, סי
• Spanish: se

References

• Ralph Steele Boggs et al. (1946), “se”, in Tentative Dictionary of Medieval Spanish, volume II, Chapel Hill, page 459

Old Swedish

Verb

se

1. first-person singular present active subjunctive of vara
2. second-person singular present active subjunctive of vara
3. third-person singular present active subjunctive of vara
4. third-person plural singular present active subjunctive of vara

Ometepec Nahuatl

Adjective

se

1. one.

Pennsylvania German

Etymology

Compare German sie.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sə/

Pronoun

se

1. she, her

Declension

Pennsylvania German personal pronouns

Number	singular						plural
Person/ Gender	1st	2nd person		3rd person			1st	2nd	3rd
		familiar	polite/formal	m	f	n
nominative	ich	du de1	dihr der1 Sie	er	sie se1	es	mir mer1	dihr der1	sie
dative	mir mer1	dir der1	eich Ihne Ne1	ihm em1	ihre re1	ihm em1	uns	eich	ihne ne1
accusative	mich	dich	eich Sie	ihn en1	sie se1	es			sie

¹ unstressed

Phalura

Etymology 1

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /se/

Determiner

se (demonstrative, Perso-Arabic spelling سےۡ)

1. the
2. that (agr: rem fem / rem non-nom masc)

References

• Henrik Liljegren; Naseem Haider (2011), “se”, in Palula Vocabulary (FLI Language and Culture Series; 7)‎^[12], Islamabad, Pakistan: Forum for Language Initiatives, →ISBN

Etymology 2

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /se/

Determiner

se (demonstrative, Perso-Arabic spelling سےۡ)

1. the
2. those (agr: rem)

References

• Henrik Liljegren; Naseem Haider (2011), “se”, in Palula Vocabulary (FLI Language and Culture Series; 7)‎^[13], Islamabad, Pakistan: Forum for Language Initiatives, →ISBN

Etymology 3

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /se/

Pronoun

se (demonstrative, Perso-Arabic spelling سےۡ)

1. it
2. she (rem fem nom)

References

• Henrik Liljegren; Naseem Haider (2011), “se”, in Palula Vocabulary (FLI Language and Culture Series; 7)‎^[14], Islamabad, Pakistan: Forum for Language Initiatives, →ISBN

Etymology 4

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /se/

Pronoun

se (demonstrative, Perso-Arabic spelling سےۡ)

1. they (rem nom)

References

• Henrik Liljegren; Naseem Haider (2011), “se”, in Palula Vocabulary (FLI Language and Culture Series; 7)‎^[15], Islamabad, Pakistan: Forum for Language Initiatives, →ISBN

Pilagá

Pronoun

se

1. I

   se-take ― I want

References

• 2001, Alejandra Vidal, quoted in Subordination in Native South-American Languages

Pipil

Pipil cardinal numbers

<  0	1	2  >
Cardinal : sē     Ordinal : achtu     Adverbial : seujti     Distributive : sejsē ika

Etymology

From Proto-Uto-Aztecan *sɨmayV. Compare Classical Nahuatl ce (“one”). Cognate with Hopi suukya' (“one”), Shoshone seme' (“one”), Cahuilla súplli (“one”), and O'odham hema (“one”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈseː/

Numeral

sē

1. one

   Nikneki semaya se

   I want only one

Article

sē

1. a, indefinite article

   Tikitat se tekulut tik ne kwajkwawit

   We saw an owl in the trees

Pronoun

sē

1. someone, something, indefinite pronoun

   Walajsik se ina ka metzishmati

   Someone came who said she/he knows you

   Se anmejemet nemi pal yawi pal kikua ne takwal

   One of you has to go to buy the food

   Ne nunan nechmakak se anmupal

   My mom gave me something for you all

Polish

Etymology

Clipping of sobie.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /ˈsɛ/

• (Lesser Poland):
  • (Podegrodzie) IPA^(key): /ˈsɛ/
  • (Przemyśl) IPA^(key): [ˈsɛ]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛ
• Syllabification: se

Pronoun

se

1. (colloquial, sometimes proscribed or dialectal, Przemyśl, Podegrodzie) (dative, weak form) oneself, myself, yourself, itself, etc.

   Synonym: sobie

   Daj se z tym spokój.

   Give it a break.

Further reading

• se in Polish dictionaries at PWN
• Aleksander Saloni (1899), “se”, in “Lud wiejski w okolicy Przeworska”, in M. Arct, E. Lubowski, editors, Wisła : miesięcznik gieograficzno-etnograficzny (in Polish), volume 13, Warsaw: Artur Gruszecki, page 244
• Karol Mátyás (1891), “se”, in “Słowniczek gwary ludu zamieszkującego wschodnio-południową najbliższą okolicę Nowego Sącza”, in Sprawozdania Komisyi Językowej Akademii Umiejętności (in Polish), volume 4, Kraków: Drukarnia Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego, page 329

Portuguese

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /si/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /si/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /se/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /sɨ/

• Audio (Brazil (São Paulo)):

  (file)

• Audio (Portugal (Porto)):

  (file)

• Homophones: si (Brazil), cê (South Brazil)
• Hyphenation: se

Etymology 1

Inherited from Old Galician-Portuguese sse / se, from Latin sē.

Pronoun

se m or f by sense

2. third-person singular and plural reflexive pronoun; himself; herself; itself; themselves

   Ela se viu no espelho.

   She saw herself in the mirror.

4. (nonstandard, colloquial, Brazil, highly proscribed) first-person singular reflexive pronoun; myself

   Synonym: (standard) me

   Eu acordei e se vesti.

   I woke up and dressed myself.

6. third-person singular and plural reciprocal pronoun; each other; one another

   Quando eles se conheceram?

   When did they meet (each other)?

8. (colloquial, nonstandard, Brazil, Alentejo) first-person plural reciprocal pronoun; each other; one another

   Synonym: (standard) nos

   Nós se beijámos.

   We kissed each other.

10. second-person singular and plural reflexive and reciprocal pronoun, when used with second-person pronouns other than tu and vós; yourself; yourselves

    E você se diz um professor!

    And you call yourself a teacher!

12. impersonal pronominal verb; oneself

    Vive-se bem em Belém.

    One lives well in Belém.

    (literally, “Lives oneself well in Belém”)

14. a particle that passivizes the verb without specifying its agent

    Sempre se usavam roupas elegantes nessas reuniões.

    Elegant clothes were always worn in these meetings.

    • 1890, Aluizio Azevedo, chapter III, in O Cortiço, Rio de Janeiro: B. L. Garnier, page 45:

      Começavam a fazer compras na venda; ensarilhavam-se discussões e resingas; ouviam-se gargalhadas e pragas; já se não fallava, gritava-se.

      People started shopping at the sale; arguments and quarrels were entangled; laughter and curses were heard; people no longer talked: they shouted.

16. accessory, when it is used to embellish the verb without its omission impairing the understanding or changing the meaning

    "Vão-se os reis, mas as nações ficam."

    Kings go, but nations remain.

18. particle of spontaneity, when it indicates that there was spontaneity in the action by its agent

    Ele morreu-se.

    He died.

Usage notes

• When the verb precedes se, a hyphen must be used. In Portugal post-verb se is more common, while in Brazil it usually precedes the verb.
• (reflexive and reciprocal): Many verb senses take a reflexive pronoun by default; they are called pronominal verbs. se must be replaced by me, te, etc. according to the subject.

  comunicar-se (com) ― to communicate (with)

  arrepender-se ― to repent

• Many ergative English verbs are translated by a bare verb for transitive usage and a pronominal one for intransitive:

  O professor acalmou os alunos.

  The teacher calmed the students down.

  O professor acalmou-se.

  The teacher calmed down.

• (impersonal pronominal verb, passivizing particle): se may also have a modal sense (e.g. advice, duty, or prohibition):

  É assim que se lida com um cliente chato.

  This is how an annoying customer should be dealt with.

  2015, Atchim e Espirro, “Não Atire o Pau no Gato [Don't Throw the Stick at the Cat]”, in Luccas Fantinato Trevisani (lyrics), Cantigas de Roda [Nursery Rhymes]‎^[16]:

  Não atire o pau no ga-to-to / Porque is-so-so não se faz, faz, faz

  Don't throw the stick at the cat, cat, cat / Because that must, must not be done, done, done

See also

Portuguese personal pronouns

number	person		nominative (subject)	accusative (direct object)	dative (indirect object)	prepositional	prepositional with com	non-declining
singular	first		eu	me		mim	comigo	—
	second		tu	te		ti	contigo	você o senhor m a senhora f
	third	m	ele	o (lo, no)	lhe	ele	com ele	o mesmo
		f	ela	a (la, na)		ela	com ela	a mesma
plural	first		nós	nos		nós	connosco (Portugal) conosco (Brazil)	a gente
	second		vós	vos		vós	convosco com vós	vocês os senhores m as senhoras f
	third	m	eles	os (los, nos)	lhes	eles	com eles	os mesmos
		f	elas	as (las, nas)		elas	com elas	as mesmas
reflexive third / indefinite			—	se		si	consigo	o mesmo etc. (reflexive)

Etymology 2

Inherited from Old Galician-Portuguese se, from Latin sī (“if”).

Alternative forms

• si (pre-standardization spelling)

Conjunction

se

1. if (introduces a condition that may be (or prove to be) either true or false)

   Synonyms: caso, desde que, contanto que, dado que

   Antonyms: caso contrário, senão

   Se for sair, leve um guarda-chuva.

   If you go out, take an umbrella.

   Só começaremos se nos pagarem.

   We will only begin if they pay us.

   • 2009, Maria Gadú, “Altar particular”:

     Tu me devolva o que tirou daqui / Que o meu peito se abre e desata os nós / Se enfim, você um dia resolver mudar / Tirar meu pobre coração do altar

     Give me back what you took from here / 'Cause my chest will open and untie the knots / If you finally decide to change / Take my poor heart from the altar

   • 2007, J. K. Rowling, Lia Wyler, Harry Potter e as Relíquias da Morte, Rocco, page 317:

     Desculpe, acho que dá mais medo se for meia-noite!

     I'm sorry, I thought it would be more fearsome if it were midnight!

2. if (introduces a condition that is counterfactual or hypothetical)

   Synonyms: caso, desde que, contanto que, dado que

   Antonyms: caso contrário, senão

   Se ela não tivesse me falado, não ia saber.

   If she hadn't told me, I wouldn't know.

   Se eu fosse você, não iria ali sozinha.

   If I were you, I wouldn't go there alone.

3. if (introduces a condition that is known to be true)

   Synonyms: porque, porquanto, já que, visto que, uma vez que, como

   Se você tem carro, por que ir a pé?

   If you have a car, why go on foot?

   O ralo está entupido — e, se o ralo está entupido, a água não flui.

   The drain's blocked — and if the drain's blocked, the water won't flow.

4. if (introduces a relevance conditional)

   Synonyms: caso, desde que, contanto que, dado que

   Antonyms: caso contrário, senão

   Tenho sobras de bolo se você quiser.

   I have leftover cake if you want some.

5. if (when; whenever; every time that)

   Synonyms: quando, assim que, sempre que, logo que, mal, desde que

   Se ele fala, irrita a todos.

   If he speaks, he annoys everyone.

   Se chove, cai um toró.

   If it rains, it pours.

6. if, whether (used to introduce a noun clause, an indirect question, that functions as the direct object of certain verbs)

   Não sei se ela vem.

   I don't know if she will come.

   Pergunto-lhe se já tem uma solução para o caso.

   I ask you whether you already have a solution for the case.

Usage notes

• Specifically a subordinating conjunction like English if.

Etymology 3

Pronoun

se

1. (Brazil, text messaging) nonstandard spelling of cê (“you”)

   Synonym: c

   se sabe oq aconteceu??

   do u know what happened?

Romagnol

Alternative forms

• s' (Apocopic)

Conjunction

se

1. if

Romanian

Alternative forms

• се (se) — post-1930s Cyrillic spelling

Etymology

From Latin sē.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /se/
• Rhymes: -e

Pronoun

se

1. (reflexive pronoun) oneself, himself, herself, itself, themselves

Related terms

• sine

Further reading

• “se”, in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language) (in Romanian), 2004–2025

Romansch

Alternative forms

• (Rumantsch Grischun, Sursilvan) si
• (Sutsilvan, Surmiran) sen
• (Puter, Vallader) sü

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Adverb

se

1. (Sutsilvan, Surmiran) up, upward, upwards

Rwanda-Rundi

Etymology

From Proto-Bantu *cé.

Noun

sé class 1a (plural bāsé class 2a)

1. his/her father
2. his/her paternal uncle

Samoan

Article

se

1. a (singular indefinite article)

See also

• le

Serbo-Croatian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /se/

Etymology 1

From Proto-Slavic *sę, from Proto-Balto-Slavic *sen, from Proto-Indo-European *swé.

Pronoun

se ? (Cyrillic spelling се)

1. oneself (clitic form of reflexive pronoun)
   1. myself
   2. ourselves
   3. thyself (archaic)
   4. yourself, yourselves
   5. himself, herself, itself
   6. themselves
2. (by extension, impersonal) Used to convey the meaning of the English passive voice in the third person where the impersonal subject does the verb unto itself

   Kako se zoveš? ― What's your name? (literally, “What do you call yourself?”)

   Kako se to kaže na španjolskom? ― How is that said in Spanish? / How do you say that in Spanish? (literally, “How does it say itself in Spanish?”)

   Ovdje se govori španjolski ― Spanish is spoken here (literally, “Spanish speaks itself here.”)

   Svjetska prvenstva se igraju ljeti. ― World Cups are played during the summer. (literally, “World Cups play themselves during the summer.”)

Declension

Declension of se

	singular	plural
nominative	—	—
genitive	sȅbe, se	sȅbe
dative	sȅbi, si	sȅbi
accusative	sȅbe, se	sȅbe
vocative	—	—
locative	sȅbi	sȅbi
instrumental	sȍbōm	sȍbom

Etymology 2

From Proto-Slavic *sь.

Particle

se (Cyrillic spelling се)

1. (obsolete) this is; here is
   • 1404, anonymous, Kočerin tablet, (Please provide the book title or journal name):

     се лежи вигань милошевиꙉь

     Here lies Viganj Milošević

Sicilian

Alternative forms

• sì
• se', sè (non-orthographic)

Etymology

From Latin sīc. In the “yes” sense, from sīc (est). Doublet of sì.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsɛ/ (stressed)
• IPA^(key): /si/ (unstressed)
• Hyphenation: sè

Adverb

se

1. yes

   Antonyms: no, noni, nonzi, ntz

Derived terms

• se e no
• unu se e l'autru macari
• unu se e unu no

Related terms

• accussini
• accussì
• accuḍḍini
• accuḍḍì
• d'accussì

Slovene

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *sę.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sɛ/

Pronoun

se

1. oneself: myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself
2. ourselves, yourselves, themselves
3. Dummy pronoun to make a verb intransitive, reflexive, or for reflexive voice.

Declension

Second masculine/first feminine/second neuter declension (a-stem), fixed accent, highly irregular Stressed ("naglasne") forms
nominative imenovȃlnik	–	–	–
genitive rodȋlnik	sébe	sébe	sébe
dative dajȃlnik	sébi	sébi	sébi
accusative tožȋlnik	sébe	sébe	sébe
locative mẹ̑stnik	sébi	sébi	sébi
instrumental orọ̑dnik	sȃbo, sebọ́j	sȃbo, sebọ́j	sȃbo, sebọ́j
(vocative) (ogȏvorni imenovȃlnik)	–	–	–

Unstressed ("naslonske") forms
	singular	dual	plural
genitive rodȋlnik	se	se	se
dative dajȃlnik	si	si	si
accusative tožȋlnik	se	se	se

Binding ("navezne / predložne") accusative forms
	singular	dual	plural
unstressed	-se	-se	-se
stressed	sẹ̑	sẹ̑	sẹ̑

See also

• jaz
• ti
• on
• ona
• ono

Further reading

• “se”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU, portal Fran
• “se”, in Termania, Amebis
• See also the general references

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /se/ [se]

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -e
• Syllabification: se
• Homophones: sé, (Latin America) ce

Etymology 1

From Latin sē.

Pronoun

se m or f by sense (third person singular and plural, including ‘usted’ and ‘ustedes’)

1. A reflexive or reciprocal pronoun: oneself, himself, herself, itself, yourself; themselves; yourselves; each other; one another

   Juan se lava. ― Juan washes himself.

   Diego y María se aman. ― Diego and María love each other.

   ¿Cómo se llama? ― What is your name? (literally, “How do you call yourself?”)

   Les gustaba comprarse flores. ― They liked to buy each other flowers.

   Roberto se lava la cara.

   Roberto washes his own face.

   (literally, “Roberto, to himself, washes the face.”)

2. A pronoun used with transitive verbs to create the passive voice

   Se necesitan médicos bilingües. ― Bilingual doctors are needed.

   Algún día, todo se sabrá. ― One day, everything will be known.

   Se suponía que iban a salir conmigo.

   They were supposed to go out with me.

   (literally, “It was supposed that they were going to go out with me.”)

3. A pronoun used with a verb conjugated in the third-person singular to convey an impersonal meaning

   Se dice que... ― It is said that...

   Aquí se habla español.

   Spanish is spoken here / They speak Spanish here.

   (literally, “One speaks Spanish here.”)

4. (formal) Used to third person subjunctive moods to form an impersonal imperative.
   • 2025 July 28 (last accessed), (Please provide the book title or journal name)‎^[17]:

     Hágase tu voluntad en la tierra como en el cielo.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Usage notes

• (third person reflexive): Se is used as a suffix with verbs in the infinitive, gerund and imperative.

Etymology 2

From Old Spanish ge (from Latin illī, compare Portuguese lhe, Italian gli), whose pronunciation shifted from /ʒe/ to /ʃe/ in Early Modern Spanish, at which point it was reanalyzed as /se/ (rather than shifting to /xe/ as expected).

Alternative forms

• ge (archaic)

Pronoun

se m or f by sense (third person, including ‘usted’ and ‘ustedes’)

1. used instead of indirect object pronouns le and les before the direct object pronouns lo, la, los, or las

   El samaritano se las dio. ― The Samaritan gave them to him.

See also

See Appendix:Spanish pronouns for an overview of Spanish pronouns and Template:es-personal pronouns for a pronoun table.

Etymology 3

Verb

se (main verb saber)

1. misspelling of sé

Further reading

• “se”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024
• “se”, in Diccionario panhispánico de dudas [Panhispanic Dictionary of Doubts] (in Spanish), 2nd edition, Royal Spanish Academy; Association of Academies of the Spanish Language, 2023, →ISBN
• “se”, in Diccionario del español de México, Segunda edición, Academia Mexicana de la Lengua, 2019
• Manuel Seco; Olimpia Andrés; Gabino Ramos (3 August 2023), “se”, in Diccionario del español actual [Dictionary of Current Spanish] (in Spanish), third digital edition, Fundación BBVA [BBVA Foundation]

Sranan Tongo

Etymology

Borrowed from Dutch zee.

Noun

se

1. sea

Swedish

Etymology

From Old Swedish sēa, sē, sīa, from Old Norse séa, sjá, from Proto-Germanic *sehwaną. Final -g of the past tense form added under influence of the Old Swedish plural form sāgho.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /seː/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Homophones: C, c
• Rhymes: -eː

Verb

se (present ser, preterite såg, supine sett, imperative se)

1. to see (not be blind)

   Han sa att han var blind, men han kan se

   He said he was blind, but he can see

2. to look

   Synonyms: titta, kolla, stirra, glo

   Han såg på igelkotten

   He looked at the hedgehog

   • 1888, August Strindberg, Fröken Julie‎^[18]:

     Tvärtom, fröken Julie, som ni ser har jag skyndat uppsöka min övergivna!

     Quite the opposite, miss Julie, as you can see I have rushed to find my abandoned one!

   • 1915, John Wahlborg, Stjärnbanér i blågult‎^[19]:

     Vad jag sett och hört och känt har helt enkelt överväldigat mig.

     What I have seen and heard and felt has quite simply overwhelmed me.

4. to see; to understand

   Synonyms: förstå, fatta, begripa

   Jag ser inte hur det skulle kunna vara möjligt. ― I don't see how that could be possible.

5. to see, to visualize; to form a mental picture of

Usage notes

"Jag ser" for "I see" as in "I understand" does not work in (sense 3). See the synonyms instead.

Conjugation

Conjugation of se (class 5 strong)

	active		passive
infinitive	se		ses
supine	sett		setts
imperative	se		—
imper. plural1	sen		—
	present	past	present	past
indicative	ser	såg	ses	sågs
ind. plural1	se	sågo	ses	sågos
subjunctive2	se	såge	ses	såges
present participle		seende
past participle		sedd

¹ Archaic. ² Dated. See the appendix on Swedish verbs.

Hypernyms

• förnimma

Derived terms

• avse
• bortse
• frånse
• inse
• se an, se något an
• se efter
• se i syne
• se på
• se till
• se ut
• tillse
• återse
• överse

Related terms

• höra
• lukta
• smaka
• känna

See also

• syn
• sikt

References

• se in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• se in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• se in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)

Anagrams

• -es

Tagalog

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈse/ [ˈsɛ]
• Rhymes: -e
• Syllabification: se

Etymology 1

See ce.

Noun

se (Baybayin spelling ᜐᜒ) (historical)

1. alternative form of ce

Etymology 2

See che.

Noun

se (Baybayin spelling ᜐᜒ) (historical)

1. alternative form of che

Anagrams

• es

Talysh

Etymology

Cognate with Persian سه (seh).

Numeral

se

1. three

Tarantino

Pronoun

se (impersonal, reflexive)

1. it
2. one

Ternate

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈse]

Preposition

se (Jawi سي)

1. human oblique preposition
   1. to
   2. at, in
   3. on
   4. from

Usage notes

Se is only used when the referent is human. For non-human referents, toma is used instead.

Alternative forms

• si

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈse]

Preposition

se (Jawi سي)

1. associative preposition: with

   ngori totagi butu se ngori rinongoru ― I go to the market with my younger sibling

2. instrumental preposition: with, by, using

   tabu se usipera ― fire the gun (literally, “to shoot with the gun”)

Usage notes

Generally, when se takes a human referent, it is associative, and when se takes a non-human referent, it is instrumental, although exceptions do exist.

Alternative forms

• si

Etymology 3

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈse]

Conjunction

se (Jawi سي)

1. and

   tohida riyaya se ribaba ― I see my mother and my father

2. forms compound numbers

   bobato nyagimoi se tofkange ― the (council of) eighteen bobatos (literally, “the ten and eight bobatos”)

References

• Frederik Sigismund Alexander de Clercq (1890), Bijdragen tot de kennis der Residentie Ternate, E.J. Brill
• Rika Hayami-Allen (2001), A descriptive study of the language of Ternate, the northern Moluccas, Indonesia, University of Pittsburgh

Tocharian A

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *suHyús. Cognate with Tocharian B soy, Old Armenian ուստր (ustr) and Ancient Greek υἱύς (huiús).

Noun

se m

1. son

See also

• ckācar
• pācar
• mācar
• pracar
• ṣar

Tocharian B

Pronoun

se

1. alternative form of kᵤse (“who, which”) (colloquial)

Turkish

Etymology 1

Noun

se

1. The name of the Latin-script letter S/s.

Etymology 2

Noun

se

1. Letter of the Arabic alphabet: ث

Tuvaluan

Article

se (indefinite article)

1. a, an

Urhobo

Etymology

Cognate with Isoko se.

Verb

se

1. (transitive) to read
2. (transitive) to refuse

References

• Anthony Obakpọnọvwẹ Ukere, Urhobo - English Dictionary, 1986 - version edited by Roger Blench, Cambridge 2005, page 40

Veps

Etymology

From Proto-Finnic *se, from Proto-Uralic *śe. Cognates include Finnish se and Estonian see.

Pronoun

se

1. it

Inflection

See Template:vep-decl-se for inflection.

Determiner

se

1. that (far)

Inflection

See Template:vep-decl-se for inflection.

Derived terms

• -se

References

• Zajceva, N. G.; Mullonen, M. I. (2007), “та, то, тот”, in Uz’ venä-vepsläine vajehnik / Novyj russko-vepsskij slovarʹ [New Russian–Veps Dictionary]‎^[20], Petrozavodsk: Periodika

Vietnamese

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [sɛ˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [ʂɛ˧˧] ~ [sɛ˧˧]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [ʂɛ˧˧] ~ [sɛ˧˧]

Verb

se

1. to be almost dry
2. to be wrung with pain

References

• “se”, in Soha Tra Từ (in Vietnamese), Hanoi: Vietnam Communications Corporation.

Volapük

Preposition

se

1. out of

Volscian

Etymology 1

Perhaps an accusative form of *sim (“pig”), from Proto-Italic *sūs, from Proto-Indo-European *suH-. If this is true, the term would be a cognate with Latin sūs and Umbrian sim. This interpretation has been criticized for being phonologically improbable as the letter "e" may not have been likely to represent the sound "/iː/."

Noun

se (accusative)

1. The meaning of this term is uncertain. Possibilities include: pig

Etymology 2

From Proto-Italic *som~*ezom, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ésti. Cognate with Latin sum, in particular Latin siet. This interpretation has been criticized for being phonologically improbable as the letter "e" may not have been likely to represent the sound "/iː/."

Verb

se (3rd person singular subjunctive)

1. The meaning of this term is uncertain. Possibilities include: to be

Etymology 3

Fron Proto-Italic *sei. Cognate with Latin sī or Latin sīc.

Conjunction

se

1. The meaning of this term is uncertain. Possibilities include: if, thus

Alternative forms

• *sei

References

• 2022, Blanca María Prósper, “The Tabula Veliterna: a sacred law from Central Italy”, in Rivista Italiana di Linguistica e dialettologia‎^[21], number XXIV (quotation in English; overall work in English), pages 10-11:

Votic

Pronunciation

• (Luutsa, Liivtšülä) IPA^(key): /ˈse/, [ˈsʲe]
• Rhymes: -e
• Hyphenation: se

Pronoun

se

1. alternative form of see

References

• Hallap, V.; Adler, E.; Grünberg, S.; Leppik, M. (2012), “se¹”, in Vadja keele sõnaraamat [A dictionary of the Votic language], 2nd edition, Tallinn

Welsh

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sɛ/

Verb

se (not mutable)

1. contraction of basai

West Frisian

Pronoun

se

1. alternative form of sy (“she”)

Pronoun

se

1. alternative form of sy (“they”)

Wutunhua

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [sʰə]

Wutunhua numbers ^(edit)

	40
←  3	4	5  →
Cardinal: se     Ordinal: di-se, xxewa

Etymology 1

From Mandarin 四 (sì).

Numeral

se

1. four

Etymology 2

From Mandarin 死 (sǐ).

Verb

se

1. to die

   rolang sho-de je da nga-n-de mula ren se-gu-la diando rolang qhe-lai-li sho-de gu-li.

   As for this thing called ro-langs [type of Tibetan zombie], it is said that if a person among us dies, there will appear a ro-langs instead.

   (Quoted in Janhunen et al., p. 114)

References

• Juha Janhunen, Marja Peltomaa, Erika Sandman, Xiawu Dongzhou (2008), Wutun (LINCOM's Descriptive Grammar Series), volume 466, LINCOM Europa, →ISBN
• Erika Sandman (2016), A Grammar of Wutun‎^[22], University of Helsinki (PhD), →ISBN

Yoruba

Etymology 1

Proposed to be derived from Proto-Yoruboid *sì, compare with Igala hì, Igbo si

Alternative forms

• hè (Ìkálẹ̀)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sè/

Verb

sè

1. (transitive) to cook

   Ó se ọbẹ̀ ilá. ― He cooked okra soup.

2. (transitive) to boil

   Mi ò mọ ẹyin ín sè. ― I don't know how to boil eggs.

Usage notes

• When to cook is intransitive use dáná.
• (to boil): When referring to leafy vegetables or meat use bọ̀, when referring to water use hó.

Synonyms

Yoruba varieties and languages: sè (“to cook, boil”)
view map; edit data
Language family	Variety group	Variety/language	Subdialect	Location	Words
Proto-Itsekiri-SEY	Southeast Yoruba	Eastern Àkókó	Ọ̀bà	Ọ̀bà Àkókó	sè
		Ìdànrè (Ùdànè, Ùdànrè)		Ìdànrè (Ùdànè, Ùdànrè)	sè
		Ìjẹ̀bú	Ìjẹ̀bú	Ìjẹ̀bú Òde	sè
				Àgọ́ Ìwòyè	sè
				Ìjẹ̀bú Igbó	sè
			Rẹ́mọ	Ẹ̀pẹ́	sè
				Ìkẹ́nnẹ́	sè
				Ìkòròdú	sè
				Òde Rẹ́mọ	sè
				Ṣágámù	sè
		Ifọ́n		Ifọ́n	sè
		Ìkálẹ̀ (Ùkálẹ̀)		Òkìtìpupa	hè
		Ìlàjẹ (Ùlàjẹ)		Mahin	hè
				Òde Ùgbò	hè
				Òde Etíkàn	hè
		Oǹdó		Oǹdó	sè
		Ọ̀wọ̀ (Ọ̀ghọ̀)		Ọ̀wọ̀ (Ọ̀ghọ̀)	sè
		Usẹn		Usẹn	hè
	Ìtsẹkírì			Ìwẹrẹ	sè
	Olùkùmi			Ugbódù	fẹ́unzẹ́
Proto-Yoruba	Central Yoruba	Èkìtì	Èkìtì	Àdó Èkìtì	sè
				Òdè Èkìtì	sè
				Òmùò Èkìtì	sè
				Awó Èkìtì	sè
				Ìfàkì Èkìtì	sè
			Àkúrẹ́	Àkúrẹ́	sè
			Mọ̀bà	Ọ̀tùn Èkìtì	sè
		Ifẹ̀ (Ufẹ̀)		Ilé Ifẹ̀ (Ulé Ufẹ̀)	sè
		Ìjẹ̀ṣà (Ùjẹ̀ṣà)		Iléṣà (Uléṣà)	sè
		Òkè Igbó		Òkè Igbó	sè
		Western Àkókó		Ọ̀gbàgì Àkókó	sè
	Northwest Yoruba	Àwórì		Èbúté Mẹ́tà	sè
				Ìgbẹsà	sè
				Ọ̀tà	sè
				Agége	sè
				Ìlogbò Erémi	sè
		Ẹ̀gbá		Abẹ́òkúta	sè
		Ẹ̀gbádò		Ayétòrò	sè
				Igbógila	sè
				Ìjàká	sè
				Ìlaròó	sè
				Ìṣàwọ́njọ	sè
		Èkó		Èkó	sè
		Ìbàdàn		Ìbàdàn	sè
		Ìbàràpá		Igbó Òrà	sè
				Èrúwà	sè
		Ìbọ̀lọ́		Òṣogbo (Òsogbo)	sè
				Ọ̀fà	sè
		Ìgbómìnà		Ìlá Ọ̀ràngún	sè
				Ìfẹ́lódùn LGA	sè
				Ìrẹ́pọ̀dùn LGA	sè
				Ìsin LGA	sè
		Ìlọrin		Ìlọrin	sè
		Oǹkó		Òtù	sè
				Ìwéré Ilé	sè
				Òkèhò	sè
				Ìsẹ́yìn	sè
				Ṣakí	sè
				Tedé	sè
				Ìgbẹ́tì	sè
		Ọ̀yọ́		Ọ̀yọ́	sè
				Ògbómọ̀ṣọ́ (Ògbómọ̀sọ́)	sè
				Ìkirè	sè
				Ìwó	sè
		Standard Yorùbá		Nàìjíríà	sè
				Bɛ̀nɛ̀	sè
	Northeast Yoruba/Okun	Gbẹ̀dẹ̀		Ìyá Gbẹ̀dẹ̀	hè
		Ìbùnú		Bùnú	hè
		Ìjùmú		Ìjùmú	hè
		Ìkìrì		Akutupa Kiri	hè
		Ìyàgbà		Ìsánlú Ìtẹ̀dó	hè
		Owé		Kabba	hè
		Ọ̀wọ́rọ̀		Lọ́kọ́ja	hè
	Ede languages/Southwest Yoruba	Ọ̀họ̀rí/Ɔ̀hɔ̀rí-Ìjè	Ọ̀họ̀rí/Ɔ̀hɔ̀rí/Ìjè	Ìkpòbɛ́	sè
				Ọ̀húnbẹ́	sè
				Onigbolo	sè
			Kétu/Ànàgó	Ìlárá	sè
				Ìdọ̀fà	sè
				Ìmẹ̀kọ	sè
				Ìwòyè Kétu	sè
				Kétu	sè
		Ifɛ̀		Akpáré	sè
				Atakpamɛ	sè
				Est-Mono	sè
Tchetti (Tsɛti, Cɛti)				sè
Southern Nago		Ìsakété	sè
		Ìfànyìn	sè
Note: This amalgamation of terms comes from a number of different academic papers focused on the unique varieties and languages spoken in the Yoruboid dialectal continuum which extends from eastern Togo to southern Nigeria. The terms for spoken varieties, now deemed dialects of Yorùbá in Nigeria (i.e. Southeast Yorùbá, Northwest Yorùbá, Central Yorùbá, and Northeast Yorùbá), have converged with those of Standard Yorùbá leading to the creation of what can be labeled Common Yorùbá (Funṣọ Akere, 1977). It can be assumed that the Standard Yorùbá term can also be used in most Nigerian varieties alongside native terms, especially amongst younger speakers. This does not apply to the other Nigerian Yoruboid languages of Ìṣẹkírì and Olùkùmi, nor the Èdè Languages of Benin and Togo.

Derived terms

• oúnjẹ sísè (“cooking”)
• sísè (“cooked, cooking”)
• àsè (“banquet”)

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sé/

Verb

sé

1. (transitive) to block; to shut

   Wọ́n sé fèrèsé náà. ― They blocked that window.

2. (transitive) to miss

   Òkúta tí ó jù sé ihò. ― The rock she threw missed the hole.

Derived terms

• sé léèémí (“to strangle, to choke”)
• sé mọ́lé (“to quarantine”)
• ìsédò (“dam”)
• ìséjúlé (“deep defending”)

Zazaki

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [sɛ]

Etymology 1

From Turkish -se (“if”).

Conjunction

se

1. if

Derived terms

• benose

Etymology 2

From Proto-Iranian *číš (“what”), from Proto-Indo-European *kʷís (“who, what, which, that”).

Adverb

se

1. what
2. how

Etymology 3

Numeral

se

1. alternative form of sed