Okay, this sentence has many issues.
Firstly, we've got here a case of leísmo
, which consists in using "le" instead of "lo". Many people think taht "lo" is for objects and "le" for people, but that's nor always true. "Lo" is for direct objects, so the sentence here should have been
Se lo insultaba y criticaba.
So let's go into the sentence. We can look into the first verb only, without loss of generality. Let's reduce it to
Se lo insultaba.
We've got a verb (insultaba), a direct object (lo) and a mysterious word "se". Unless a person is called "Se" (which is very unlikely), "se" is NOT the subject. Where is the subject then?
There are two options:
a. The sentence has no subject.
b. The sentence is actually a passive one.
The way to tell which one, is trying to "rearrange" the sentence and see if it can be expressed as a normal mpassive.
(I hope you didn't get lost, but keep reading).
There are two types of passive in Spanish. The normal passive uses the same structure as English: ser + participle
.
Check that it is NOT "estar", but ser.
He was insulted = Él fue insultado.
As you can see, the usual passive is word-by-word the same as English. Be careful to use "ser", since "estar" would mean a different thing.
Fue pintado
= it was painted (the action of being painted was applied to it)
vs.
Estaba pintado
= It was painted (it's just indicating its current state)
So, back to the topic, there are two types of passive in Spanish.
The first type is exactly the same as English.
The second type is called "pasiva refleja" and it uses the word "se". ser + participle
becomes se + conjugated verb
:
That was done = Eso fue hecho || Eso se hizo.
I know it sounds weird at the beginning, but that's because you're not used to it. Unfortunately, the second way is more common in Spanish, so you'll have to get used to it haha.
So finally,
se lo insultaba
can be rephrased like a passive sentence.
él era insultado.
Why is it like this?
"lo" is the direct object. The direct object of a passive is "by definition" the subject of the real sentence.
It was done ↔ someone did it.
- So "lo" acting as a DO becomes subject in the passive voice.
Then I use "era" because "insultaba" is in imperfect preterite.
And I think that's all.
It might be complicated for a beginner. I admit it is an "advanced topic". Tell me if you don't understand.