Reflexive verbs are a group of verbs that are used for actions that people do to themselves. Think of looking at a reflection in a mirror. You can recognize a reflexive verb in the infinitive (to) form because it has the reflexive object “se” tagged onto the end. Here are some examples from this week’s vocabulary. Bañarse=to bathe oneself Lavarse=to wash oneself Cepillarse=to brush oneself Ponerse=to wear/ put on (oneself) prepararse=to get (oneself) ready secarse=to dry oneself Notice that in English we use the word self to indicate a reflexive action.

Lets look at the difference between reflexive and regular actions in English and in Spanish I wash my car. Yo lavo mi auto. I wash my hair. Me lavo el pelo. The man dries the clothes. El hombre seca la ropa. The man dries off. El hombre se seca. She brushes her hair. Ella se cepilla el pelo. She brushes the child’s hair. Ella cepilla el pelo del niño. You put the watch in the bag. Tú pones el reloj en el bolso. You put on the watch. Te pones el reloj. Now you should have an idea of what the reflexive is.

There are two important parts to a reflexive phrase: the verb and the object. It is called the object, because is shows who is the object (recipient) of the action. These are the reflexive objects: menos teos sese They go at the end of an infinitive verb (to form)lavarse Or before the verb(s) in a sentence Él lava las manos. He washes his hands. se We have used this structure before with llamarse = to be called / named. Me llamo Consuelo. Él se llama Leonardo. My name is Consuelo / I call myself Consuelo. He is named Leonardo / He calls himself Leonardo. ¿Cómo te llamas?What is your name / How do you call yourself? Notice that in English we use the word self to indicate a reflexive action. myselfourselves yourselfyourselves himself herselfthemselves Itselfyourselves

I bathe Yo - this is optional so we will leave it outbañoMe myself.. You (formal) yourteeth. brush Usted cepillase los dientes. Who Does what To whom What part of them Now try these sentences. Ask yourself the questions. They dry off.Ellos se secan. We put on hats.Nos ponemos sombreros. I look at myself. Me miro. You call yourself (are named) Max. Te llamas Max. She washes her face. Ella se lava la cara. A great way is to ask yourself the following questions: