Thread: se hace

I need some explanation of the meaning and correct use
of "se hace".

For example,
Cómo se hace para preguntar a alguien cómo está
which I roughly trans as:
How to ask someone how he/she is.

But I leave out 'se hace'. Is it a passive form? What does
se refer to? What are the subject/object in the example
phrase?

- dae

ah, the tricky world of these passive/impersonal expressions. Your example: "Cómo se hace para..." is a generalizing statement. Basically one translation (though very literal and stilted) could be "What does one ..." or "How do you...", where "you" applies to all people. The idea is that the verb "hacer" is now impersonal, meaning that there is no direct subject performing the action (similar to "on" in French and "Man" in German); instead it is applied to everybody or everything in the given context. So, long story short, a translation for your example would be "How do you ask how someone is?"

Am I making sense?