kuЫК wrote:What is the purpose of se in the phrase se nos ha muerto? According to a couple of dictionaries I've checked the meaning of morirse is "to have a strong feeling", or "to die of something" in a figurative sense, but in the context of a sentence it clearly meant "to die" literally. In what way then is morirse different to just morir?
In this case
se is being used to indicate that the event was unexpected or unintentional. It is similar to the way you say
se me olvidó ("I forgot it," or more accurately, "it forgot itself on me"). Some grammar books refer to this as "no-fault se" but its meaning is a bit broader than that. It is a way of expressing an action without assigning blame, or a way of telling about an event that was not planned by anyone.
With the verb
morir and some other verbs, adding "me" or "nos" (or any appropriate form of se) can make it more personal or express a sense of loss, because adds a sense of the impact the death had on the speaker (not just "this happened," but rather "this happened to me/us").
It also suggests that the death happened from natural causes (i.e., it was not intentional or the result of a sudden accident) - it would sound strange to say "se nos murió el soldado en la guerra", for example.
Some other examples:
Se me olvidó el libro. = I forgot the book, but more indirect in terms of blame: "the book forgot itself on me"
Se me escapó de la memoria. = it slipped my mind, "it escaped from my memory"
Se nos escaparon los perros. = the dogs escaped, again more personal and indirect: "the dogs got away from us"
El auto se me rompió. = the car broke down, expressing impact on the speaker: "the car broke down on me"
Se me cayó el vaso. = I dropped the glass, personal impact without taking blame: "the glass just up and fell"
¿Se te perdieron las llaves? = did you lose the keys?, without assigning blame: "did the keys get lost from you?"
Se me murió la planta. = the plant died, not my fault/but it affects me: "the plant up and died on me"
Se nos murió el canario. = the canary died, not our fault/but it affects us: "our canary went and died on us"
Se nos muere el amor. = our love is dying, not our fault/affects us: "our love is dying on us"
Se nos murió la abuela. = our grandmother passed away, "grandma passed away on us"
No te me mueras = don't die, more personal: "don't you die on me"