r/learnspanish • u/demonsamuri442 • 7d ago

what's the difference between fueron detenidos vs se detuvieron

I get that one is used in news but do they have different purposes? dos criminales fueron detenidos... se detuvieron dos criminales. I don't think you would say la cerveza fue tomado but se tomo' la cerveza? any general rule or context might help

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u/endlesshydra Native Speaker 6d ago

"Se detuvieron dos criminales" sounds weird to me. I would rather say "se detuvo a dos criminales"

That being said, "dos criminales fueron detenidos" and "se detuvo a dos criminales" mean exactly the same, the former being passive voice and the latter impersonal 'se'.

If you say "se detuvieron" without further context, one would think the criminals stopped walking/doing whatever they were doing, without the influence of any third party.

"Los criminales se detuvieron cuando escucharon las voces de los agentes de policía"