The word 'se'

I'm in lesson 6.7, and the word ‘se’ is being used. I don't understand how it is functioning - it seems to have multiple uses. Now, I may have forgotten, but I also don't remember this word being introduced or any lessons about it. I'm very confused about the meaning of this word, as it seems to be both singular and plural, maybe second and also third person. I've also been reading other Spanish texts and see it pop up a lot - it seems like maybe it makes a verb passive. All of that to say, I've been eagerly waiting to have a grammar lesson on it, but haven't seen any, and now it is throwing me off in my flashcards since I don't know when/where to use it. Thanks for any help.

Update: The course mentions offhand that it is an indirect object pronoun. However, I don't think that it is taught in the lesson on indirect objects. So I'm more confused than ever.

Hola Señor Daniel,

This link is funny and informative  https://lightspeedspanish.co.uk/20141025-fun-look-uses-se-in-spanish/ I'm sure Liss will explain as well.

Saludos,

Ricardo

¡Hola Senor Daniel y ricardo-rich!

The pronoun se does indeed have many uses! But let's start out by looking at how it's used as an indirect object pronoun. 

That's because, as you've gathered, Senor Daniel, the type of se that appears in the examples in Lesson 6.7 is indeed an indirect object pronoun. It works like this: when the indirect object pronouns le and les get used together with direct object pronouns, then le and les change to se. You can learn all about how this works and see a number of handy examples in Lesson 5.8: "Putting Direct & Indirect Object Pronouns Together." The main explanation is under the heading “Why Do LE and LES Change to SE?” and you can get some more information about using se like this under the next heading, “To Whom? Clarifying SE.”

Now, as for the other uses of se, there are quite a few - as ricardo-rich's link indicates. Most of these uses are rather advanced, so you don't need to worry about them just yet (we cover more advanced uses in Level 3, particularly in Lesson 18.8 “All About SE”); however, you will also learn some more basic, practical uses of se in Lesson 7.5 “Actions You Do to Yourself: Reflexives.” 

I hope that this answers your questions, Senor Daniel! Let me know if anything is still unclear.

Saludos,

Liss