Reflexive verbs are used to say that people do something to or for themselves.
The same person performs and receives the action. Each subject pronoun has its corresponding reflexive pronoun:
LISTEN
SUBJECT PRONOUN
Yo Tú Él, ella, usted Nosotros(as) Vosotros(as) Ellos/ellas/ustedes
REFLEXIVE PRONOUN
me te se nos os se
A reflexive pronoun is the same person, place, or thing as the subject. Me corto el pelo I cut my hair The subject
YO and the direct object pronoun Me are the same
person.
Reflexive pronoun goes before the conjugated verb. Reflexive pronoun and the verb ending always match: Me despertéI woke up Te despertasteyou woke up Se despertóhe/she/you
woke up
You know that a verb is reflexive if the infinitive form has se attached to it (peinarse, bañarse, cepillarse, etc). When the verb
is conjugated, the se changes according to the subject
of the verb: Yo necesito peinarmeI need to comb my hair Tú necesitas bañarteyou need to shower Él
necesita cepillarse sus dientes he needs to brush
his teeth
When using a reflexive verb in the infinitive, we can put the reflexive pronoun either before the
conjugated verb or attached to the end of the infinitive. Before the verb conjugated: Te
debes oponer you should oppose Attached to the end of the infinitive: Debes
oponerteyou should oppose
Some
verbs have both reflexive and non-reflexive forms. Non-reflexive form is used when the action is being done to someone or
something else.
Reflexive form: Yo me baño
I bathe myself In this sentence I perform and receive the action - The reflexive pronoun me
is used.
Non-reflexive form: Yo baño el perro
I bathe the dog In this sentence I perform the action and the dog receives the action.
In the negative
form, no is placed before the reflexive pronoun. Yo nome peino el pelo I do not comb my hair
MORE REFLEXIVE
VERBS ...
aburrirse to
get bored acostarse (o→ue) to go to bed afeitarse to shave oneself arreglarse el pelo to fix one's
hair asustarse de to be scared of bañarse to take a bath caerse to fall down cepillarse los dientes to brush one's teeth cortarse el
pelo to cut one's hair despertarse (e→ie) to wake up divertirse (e→ie) to enjoy oneself
dormirse (o→ue) to
fall asleep ducharse to take a shower lavarse
el pelo to wash one's hair levantarse to get up maquillarse to put on make up peinarse to comb one's hair pintarse las uñas to polish one's nails ponerse la ropa to put
on the clothes prepararse to get ready secarse to dry vestirse (e→i) to get dressed
REFLEXIVE VERBS USED TO EXPRESS RECIPROCAL ACTIONS Reflexive
pronouns se and nos are also used to express the idea of each other. Examples: Mario
y José se saludaron Mario and José greet one another Isabel y yo nos abrazamos Isabel and I hug
each other
You can also add the phrase el uno al otro or la
una a la otra to emphasize the reciprocal meaning: Los amigos se abrazaban
el uno al otro The friends hug each other
