Reflexive verbs. Part I

Estimado/a estudiante de español,

Gracias por seguir este blog. En este artículo vamos a ver los verbos reflexivos en español.

There are reflexive verbs in English in Spanish, although in Spanish are more common. But……what are the reflexive verbs anyway?

A reflexive verb is one where the subject and the object are the same and where the action of the verb “reflects back” on the subject. In other words: reflexive verbs are used to talk about actions  you do “yourself” and to “yourself”, for example:  ducharse ( to have a shower),secarse ( meaning to dry yourself), acostarse ( to go to bed)……

Also we have to take in account that the infinitive form of any reflexive verb has se attached to the end of it.  As we saw before : Ducharse.

The most common reflexive verbs at beginner and intermediate level are:

• Acostarse    to go to bed
• Afeitarse    to shave
• Bañarse      to have a bath
• Dormirse    to fall asleep
• Ducharse    to have a shower
• Enfadarse   to get angry
• Lavarse       to wash
• Levantarse  to get up
• Llamarse     to be called
• Secarse         to get dried
• Sentarse       to sit down
• Vestirse        to get dressed

Here you have some examples,

Mi hermano se ducha en el gimnasio

Normalmente me levanto a las 8 de la mañana

Se viste muy rápido por la mañana

Mi amigo se enfada cuando no gana al fútbol

Mi hijo normalmente se duerme después de comer

Me siento en el sofá cuando llego a casa

Se lava las manos antes de cocinar

Se acuestan muy tarde por la noche.

It is important to know that some verbs can be used as both “ reflexive” and “ordinary” verbs. The difference is that when the verb is used as an ordinary verb the action of the verb is not received by the subject of the sentence. For example,

Me lavo ………….I wash myself

Lavo la ropa ( I wash the clothes)

Me llamo Pepe                                       I am called Pepe

LLama a su padre por telefono             He rings his dad by phone

Me acuesto a las 10 de la noche                I  go to bed at 10 at night

Acuesto a mi hijo todas las noches           I put my son to sleep every night

How do we form the reflexive verbs?

In order to this we need to learn the “ reflexive pronouns”. You can see in the following example that between the subject ( yo, tú, él……) and the verbs is where the reflexive pronoun is located.

Example, reflexive form of the verb lavantarse ( to get up).

Yo me levanto

Tú te levantas

Él /ella se levanta

Nosotros/as nos levantamos

Vosotros/as os levantais

Ellos/as se levantan

Remember that in Spanish you do not need to use the subject ( yo, tú….) so saying for instance ,me lavo, is perfectly correct.

These are the basics about reflexive verbs. Soon you will get some  activities  and  a new post about position of the reflexive pronouns and other uses of it.

If you want to practise more I offer Spanish lessons in Liverpool at all levels, for more info visit: www.yospanishschool.co.uk

Saludos

Javier

Profesor de español en Yo Spanish

Spanish lessons and courses in Liverpool