Spanish C2 · Day 15
Day 15: Solapas que consagran novelas — Middle versus passive se (part 2)
What you'll learn
- Grammar: Middle versus passive se (part 2)
- Reading: La unción de la solapa
- Try it yourself
Every lesson: vocabulary with audio, grammar, reading, a speaking step and a short test.
Grammar point: Middle versus passive se (part 2)
Passive se presents an event as done by unnamed people: “La editorial consagró la novela” becomes “Se consagró la novela.” Middle se makes the process the subject’s own: “La novela se consagró.” At C2, the key is choosing this perspective deliberately. It can hide an institution, or make a reputation look spontaneous. With a transitive verb, passive se makes the patient the subject and the verb agrees; no agent is …
Key vocabulary (8 of 56 words)
- el paratexto – textual material framing the main work
- la canonización – establishment as part of the literary canon
- la apuesta de colección – guiding editorial concept of a publication series
- la orientación lectora – steering of readers' interpretations
- la política de autor – strategic shaping and presentation of an author's oeuvre
- el marco editorial – editorial framing
- ennoblecer – to confer prestige; elevated register
- instrumentalizar – to appropriate for one's own agenda
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