While living in a small village in the Mexican state of Chihuahua, I came across a grammatical form which I had never been taught in any classroom. After visiting a friend’s daughter, I was asked, “¿Cómo se te hizo Norma?” My brain, of course, went into overtime trying to determine what the question meant: “How did Norma make herself to me?” I answered “Bien”, hoping that an affirmative answer was good enough. On another occasion, after a visit to a nearby hot spring, I was asked by my hosts “¿Cómo se te ha hecho?” I floundered for a few seconds trying to figure out “what” had “made itself” to “me” and then answer “how” it was supposed to have been. Only with time did I realize that to ask “¿Cómo se te hace X?” is the same as asking “¿Cómo te parece X” or “¿Qué tal te parece X?”
In the first example, my friend was asking “What did you think of Norma?” I could have answered something like “Se me hizo muy amable” (She seemed very friendly to me). In the second example, my hosts were asking “How did the trip go?” Of course, an answer like “¡Excelente!” or “¡Fantástico!” would have sufficed, but I could have also said “¡Se me ha hecho una experiencia increíble!” Now, of course, there are simpler and more grammatically appealing ways to express this (“Me pareció increíble!”, “Me fue muy bien.”, etc), but this construction is worth learning because you may come across it somewhere. That seems especially true in Mexico.
The construction “se me hace que…” is nearly the same as “me parece que…” Thus, you can say:
- Se me hace que esta clase es demasiado aburrida OR Me parece que esta clase es demasiado aburrida.
- Este trabajo se me hace muy complicado OR Este trabajo me parece muy complicado.
Both of these constructions express opinion and are generally interchangeable. There is, however, a slight shade of difference between them. When you say “se me hace aburrida, complicado, etc.”, you are literally saying “it makes itself boring, complicated, etc to me.” The implication is that you are affected in some way by the condition you state or that your viewpoint is totally your own. On the other hand, “me parece que…” means “it seems to me…” and is a mere expression of opinion or observation. It is a slightly more neutral statement: “Me parece que tu hermana tiene toda la razón”, “Me parece que es hora de irnos.” With “me parece”, you can even drop the “me” part and still have a sentence: “Parece que tu hermana tiene toda la razón.” With “se me hace”, however, you cannot do this and whatever opinion you express remains irrevocably your own.
The use of “se me hace que” to express an opinion is very common and will make you sound more natural in conversation. Try it out next time you want to pass an opinion!
Se me hace que ya es tarde… ¡nos vemos en la próxima!