?Qué se le ofrece?

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¡Hola Al22!

¿Qué se le ofrece? is a question that has left many a Spanish learner scratching their head! What's happening here is actually a tricky bit of grammar called the “impersonal se.”

The impersonal se allows you to make general statements without a real subject (although in English, we use subjects like “people,” “they,” or the general “you” to create the same kinds of sentences). For instance, the impersonal se is what you're using when you ask something like ¿Cómo se dice “truck” en español? “How do (you) say ‘truck’ in Spanish? / How does (one) say ‘truck’ in Spanish?”

So ¿Qué se le ofrece? is more literally like saying “What does (one) offer you?” - the se is this impersonal se and the le is the indirect object pronoun corresponding to usted. Note that the verb is always conjugated in the third person singular (i.e. the él / ella form) in the impersonal se.

As for Se acabó el gas “The gas ran out” and Se le acabó el gas “He ran out of gas,” these are actually two other types of ses! The first is the passive se, which gives a sentence a passive voice, and the second is what's called the “no-fault se” or “accident se,” which makes actions sound like they weren't someone's fault. 

We cover all of these ses (and more) in Lesson 18.8: All About SE. However, these are pretty advanced topics! While you're still at the start of your learning, it's best to memorize ¿Qué se le ofrece? as a set phrase meaning “What would you like? / What can I offer you?” and leave the rest for later.

Do let me know if you still have any questions!

Saludos,

Liss