Los verbos reflexivos Reflexive Verbs
When you use reflexive verbs, the subject does the action and also receives it. Example of a Reflexive action: I brush my teeth. This means I brush my teeth myself. It is an action that I am doing to myself. If the sentence is I brush my dog, it is not a reflexive action because I am not receiving the action, the dog is receiving it.
Reflexive vs. Non-reflexive María brushes her hair She is brushing her own hair, so it is a reflexive action. Marta brushes Ana’s hair She is not brushing her own hair. She is brushing Ana’s hair, so it is not a reflexive action.
All reflexive verbs in Spanish have ‘se’ attached to it All reflexive verbs in Spanish have ‘se’ attached to it. This helps you identify if the verb is reflexive or not. Some examples of reflexive verbs: afeitarse – to shave oneself ducharse – to shower oneself cepillarse – to brush oneself lavarse – to wash oneself
Let’s review some of the reflexive verbs
despertarse
levantarse
cepillarse los dientes
cepillarse el pelo
afeitarse
lavarse
ducharse
bañarse
Secarse
ponerse la ropa
maquillarse
peinarse
Acostarse
DORMIRSe
sentarse
me nos te se Reflexive Pronouns To use the reflexive verbs, it is important to know the reflexive pronouns. me nos te se (myself) (ourselves) (yourself) (himself) (themselves) masc. (herself) (themselves) fem. (yourself) polite (yourselves)
How to use the reflexive pronouns with verbs like necesitar, querer, deber, pensar, tener que, ir a, etc. When you use reflexive verbs, you must make sure that you remove the ‘se’ from the verb and replace it with the correct reflexive pronoun. The reflexive pronoun must match the subject. For example: I need to brush my teeth. Yo necesito cepillarme los dientes.
Let’s see some more examples: We must wake up early everyday. Nosotros debemos despertarnos temprano. Are you going to take a shower now? ¿Tú vas a ducharte ahora? I want to put on makeup today. Yo quiero maquillarme hoy. Pedro plans on shaving afterwards. Pedro piensa afeitarse después.
Personal Grooming Vocabulary
el cepillo de dientes
la pasta de dientes
la crema de afeitar
la navaja
el jabón
el champú
la toalla
el maquillaje
el cepillo
el peine
el desodorante
la loción
el secador de pelo