I do not understand the rules behind having "se" in a sentence. Does it not make sense without it in this example? Where I am trying to learn this does not explain the rule.
1 Answer
This is because the verb ir can be a pronominal verb. In such cases, the verb is conjugated together with a personal form.
In this case in particular it is use to emphasize the action the subject is making (going to a restaurant). The non-pronominal way is also correct, but you don't emphasize the action: Él va al restaurante
Pronominal Verbs can be used to reinforce the involvement of the subject to the action of the verb. A reflexive pronoun can be added to a transitive verb to emphasize the entire action.
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Hi, tumisma. Welcome to Spanish Language SE! This question has already been answered in a previous post (see comments above). Please don't answer duplicates because that encourages more people to ask more duplicates. You can post an answer in the previous question if you feel the answers there aren't fully satisfying, but make sure your answer really adds something meaningful to what has already been posted there. If you want to make a clarification, you can post a comment when you get enough reputation points. Hope to see you around!– YayCommented Mar 11, 2016 at 12:07
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1In this case I think the answer expanded on the duplicates and is probably easier for a beginner– WillCommented Mar 12, 2016 at 10:53
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@WilliamDunne In that case, this answer belongs to the question Syntax of the sentence ''Me voy''. Do we really want to have different questions here that ask for virtually the same thing, each of them with different answers? That would make this site confusing and user-hostile. By the way, there aren't any duplicates. This is the duplicate question.– YayCommented Mar 12, 2016 at 22:23