Verbos reflexivos – reflexive verbs
“
se” verbs
Reflexive verbs are used when the subject and object of the verb
are the same,
e.g., things that one does to oneself or a person does
to him/herself.
Me ducho cada mañana – I shower every morning (‘I shower
myself every morning’)
Me llamo Pedro – My name is Peter (‘I call myself Peter’);
also Yo me llamo Pedro
Se lava los dientes – He cleans his teeth
Me levanté a las 6 – I got up at 6.
Reflexive verbs are indicated by se added to the infinitive:
lavarse – to wash oneself (in contrast to lavar –
to wash something, e.g., a dog or car)
despertarse – to wake up (in contrast to despertar
– to wake somebody else up)
Some verbs that are normally not reflexive can be made reflexive:
hablarse – to talk to oneself; se hablaba – he was
talking to himself
comprarse – to buy for oneself
Some verbs have the reflexive form but do not refer to self, e.g.,
Mi madre se quejaron de la comida – my mother complained
about the food
Reflexive
pronouns (see also
pronouns table):
me – myself
te – yourself (fam.)
se – yourself (Ud.), himself, herself, oneself, itself)
nos – ourselves
os – yourselves (fam.)
se – yourselves (Uds.), themselves
The reflexive pronoun is always placed before a conjugated verb,
as above, but when the verb is infinitive, gerund, or imperative
it is usually placed after:
Puedo calmarme – I can calm down
¡Levántate! – get up!
Acostándose temprano es bueno para usted – going to bed
early is good for you
With the infinitive or a compound verb it can be placed before the
verb, for emphasis:
¿Te quieres levantar? – Do you want to get up? (or: ¿Quieres
levantarte?)
Me estoy duchando – I am having a shower (I am showering
myself)
Estoy duchándome – (ditto)
More
Reflexive irse means ‘leave’ or ‘go away’ (go-oneself)
Me voy – I’m leaving (I’m going, myself); note: salir
is more ‘to go out’ (of a specific place)
Other verbs change meaning, too, e.g., hacer/hacerse
and cambiar/cambiarse:
Voy a hacer la cena – I’m going to make dinner
Voy a hacerme autor – I’m going to become (make myself)
an author
Juan cambió las fechas de sus vacaciones – John changed
the dates of his holidays
Juan se cambió antes de salir – John got changed before
going out
Reflexive pronouns are also used for ‘reciprocal’ verbs (do something
to each other), e.g.,
Juan y María se enamoraron en Madrid – John and Mary fell
in love (with each other) in Madrid
Nos escribimos – we write to each other
Other common uses of the reflexive pronouns:
Aquí se vende café – Coffee is sold here (here coffee sells
itself)
Aquí se venden libros – Books are sold here (here books
sell themselves)
¿Cómo se dice “gambas” en inglés? – how does one say “gambas”
in English?
No se puede entrar – You can’t go in
In general, using the reflexive pronouns with non-reflexive verbs
adds emphasis (and makes them verbos pronominales – pronominal
verbs):
Te peinas antes de salir – You brush your hair before going
out
Os podéis sentar – You(pl) can sit down
Imperatives can use the reflexive pronouns too; if
negative, the pronoun is usually before the verb:
No te levantes. – don’t get (yourself) up
¡No os vayáis! – don’t you, yourselves, go away!
Imperative positives usually have the pronoun after the verb:
¡Vete! – Go away! (you go, yourself)
¡Siéntense! – sit yourselves down!
(these drop the s of present nosotros form: ¡Vámonos!
– let’s go!; similarly drop the d of imperative vosotros:
¡Sentaos! – sit down!)