8o A SPANISH REFERENCE GRAMMAR   REFLEXIVE VERBS   81

such as suceder, ocurrir, acaecer, and acontecer, all meaning to happen, bastar, to suffice, constar, to be evident, convenir, to be suitable, fitting, and importar, to be of importance, to matter, parecer, to seem, precisar, to be necessary. 374.

(d) Hacer in time expressions. Hacer is used to introduce a time expression denoting how long previously an act or state occurred or began to occur: hace un ano que le vi,

I saw him a year ago; hace un mes que vivo aqui, I have been living here a month; hacia dos alms que el estudiaba alli, he had been studying there for two years; mafiana

un alio que estamos (or estaremos) aqui, tomorrow we shall have been here a year. 375.

1. When what is the main verb in the English sentence is placed first in the Spanish sentence, usually it is followed by desde or desde hace + the time expression: estoy aqu" desde hace un mes, I have been here a month. Note the equivalent expression with llevar ; llevo aqui un mes. 376.

2. If the act is denoted as completed the tense of hater is later in time than that of the other verb: hace un alio que le vi, I saw him a year ago; or, le vi hace un alio, in which it is seen that que is omitted if the clause containing hater

follows the main verb; hacia un alio que le habia visto, or le habia visto hacia un alio, I had seen him a year before. If the act is incomplete, that is, still going on, the tense of the two verbs is the same: hace un ano que estudio, I have been studying a year; hacia un ano que estudiaba, I had been studying a year. 377.

5. Reflexive verbs are often used impersonally, with or without the person concerned being indicated: no se entra aqui, no entrance here; se le ama, he is loved, people love him. 378.

6. Ser and estar are used in impersonal expressions: es necesario, it is necessary; es de esperar, it is to be hoped; esta bien, all right. 379.

2. Reflexive verbs.

(a) When the subject in English is a person.

1. When the action of the transitive verb is reflected directly back upon the subject we have a genuine reflexive verb which is found in any person or number: me siento, I seat myself, I sit down. See 281. 380.

2. When the action of the transitive verb is reflected upon the subject, the verb having at the same time a direct object, we have a reflexive dative found in any