R EFLEXIVE V ERBS Describing Actions That Involve Oneself

R EFLEXIVE V ERBS To describe people doing this for themselves in Spanish, you use reflexive verbs. Examples of reflexive actions are… brushing one’s teeth, combing ones hair, waking up, falling asleep, washing one’s face…. Can you think of any more?

R EFLEXIVE P RONOUNS Reflexive pronouns are used with reflexive verbs to indicate that the subject of the sentence receives the action of the verb.

W HAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN ? Let’s look at the verbs to wash and to wash one’s self. Mary washes her face. The action occurring is washing. Mary is washing, and she is also being washed. Mary washes the car. In this sentence the action occurring is washing as well. Mary is washing, but she is not being washed. The car is.

F OR THE FOLLOWING SENTENCES TELL WHETHER YOU WOULD USE A REFLEXIVE VERB OR NOT. T HEN TRANSLATE. My neighbor washes his house. I bathe my dog every week. My parents shower my sister with gifts on her birthday. My friends and I fell asleep at 1:00 in the morning. Julio brushes his hair at night. She puts on her makeup before leaving her house. Tomorrow my mom will put on my sister’s makeup.

I wake up at 6 every day. My dad wakes up around 5. The old woman cannot get up. The people brush down their horses after every activity. My little sister doesn’t know how to brush her teeth.

W HAT ARE THE REFLEXIVE PRONOUNS ? The infinitive form of reflexive verbs end in “se.” This is a reflexive pronoun. But the pronoun changes depending on the subject.

R EFLEXIVE P RONOUNS IN S PANISH menos teos sese

C ONJUGATING WITH R EFLEXIVE P RONOUNS me lavo I wash myself nos lavamos we wash ourselves te lavas you wash yourself os laváis y‘all wash yourselves se lava he washes himself she washes herself you (formal) wash yourself se lavan they wash themselves you all (formal) wash yourselves Let’s conjugate some more verbs. DON’T FORGET stem changing rules apply to some.

W ITH AND W ITHOUT R EFLEXIVE P RONOUNS Pepe se lava. Pepe washes himself. Pepe lava el carro. Pepe washes the car. With Reflexive Pronoun Without Reflexive Pronoun

R EFLEXIVE V ERBS AND P OSSESSION Luis se pone la ropa. Luis puts on his clothes. Notice the sentence says la ropa and not su ropa. This is because reflexive verbs already include the concept of possession.

R EFLEXIVE V ERBS IN THE I NFINITIVE F ORM When you use the infinitive form of a reflexive verbs after a conjugated verb, you still need to use the correct reflexive pronoun. The pronoun can stay at the end of the reflexive verb or it can be moved in front of the conjugated verb.

W HAT DOES THAT LOOK LIKE ? Puedo despertarme a las seis. I can wake up at six. Me puedo despertar a las seis. I can wake up at six. Notice that the pronoun used is “me” because the subject is “yo.” Notice also the different placements of the pronouns.

S OME VERBS CHANGE MEANING Some verbs change their meaning when used reflexively. Dormir – to sleep Dormirse – to fall asleep Ir – to go Irse – to leave or go away Poner – to put Ponerse – to put on (clothes)

P ONER Pongo Pones Pone Ponemos Ponéis Ponen

S OME EXAMPLES Los niños : banarse Yo : levantarse a las siete Mi madre y yo : lavarse las manos Tú : acostarse muy temprano Ellos: despertarse a las 6 Pablo: cepillarse los dientes