Reflexive verbs

In

this presentation, we are going to look at a special group of verbs called reflexives. Lets start out by thinking of the English verb wash. List several things that you can wash.

Some examples
I

wash my clothes, I wash the dishes, I wash the car, I wash the windows. I wash my hands, I wash my hair, I wash my face.

Whats the difference?

I

wash my clothes, I wash the dishes, I wash the car, I wash the windows. I can wash things that are not part of me, that is, not attached to my body. In Spanish, we say, Lavo la ropa, lavo los platos, lavo el coche, lavo las ventanas.

 and
I

wash my hands, I wash my hair, I wash my face. I also wash things that are attached to my body hands, face, hair (unless you wear a toupee!). In Spanish, we say, Me lavo las manos, me lavo el pelo, me lavo la cara.

And your point is?

Lavo

la ropa, lavo los platos, lavo el coche, lavo las ventanas. Me lavo las manos, me lavo el pelo, me lavo la cara. If you are washing something that is attached, you need to add the word me.

Huh?
There

are two ways to talk about washing in Spanish:

Lavar:

to wash something

else Lavarse: to wash part of ones body.

Lavarse
Here

are the forms:

me

lavo te lavas se lava nos lavamos se lavan

The

me, te, se, nos, se forms are called reflexive pronouns.

How do you get those forms?

The

infinitive has a se attached to it to show that the subject is doing something to him/herself. Drop the se. Change the verb as usual. Put the appropriate reflexive pronoun in front of the verb.

Lets try one.

Llamarse:

to call oneself

yo______ t______ l______ nosotros

______ ellos ______

Llamarse
Llamarse
Llamar yo

-- se

me llamo t te llamas l se llama nosotros nos llamamos ellos se llaman

Does this look familiar?

Whats going on here?

yo

me llamo t te llamas l se llama nosotros nos llamamos ellos se llaman

The

verb endings are the usual ones.

Brillante!
yo

me llamo t te llamas l se llama nosotros nos llamamos ellos se llaman The only difference is that we have to add the reflexive pronoun (before the verb).

Okay, how about some more reflexive verbs?

Levantarse:

to get/stand up Sentarse (e > ie): to sit down Dormirse (o > ue): to fall asleep Ponerse (-go): to put on an article of clothing

Levantarse
yo

me levanto t te levantas l se levanta nosotros nos levantamos ellos se levantan

This

verb has regular endings.

Sentarse (e > ie)

yo

me siento t te sientas l se sienta nosotros nos sentamos ellos se sientan

This

verb is stem-changing.

Dormirse
yo

me duermo t te duermes l se duerme nosotros nos dormimos ellos se duermen

This

is another stem-changing verb.

Ponerse
yo

me pongo t te pones l se pone nosotros nos ponemos ellos se ponen

This

go verb changes as usual.

Dormir vs Dormirse
The

verb forms are the same: duermo, duermes, duerme, dormimos, duermen The difference in form is the addition of the reflexive pronouns: me, te, se, nos, se The difference in meaning is:
Dormir:

to sleep Dormirse: to fall asleep

Reflexive

verbs often have a special meaning, such as change in condition from being awake to being asleep.

A morning routine
Todos

los das, yo ______ (levantarse) a las 7:00. ______ (ir) al bao, _______ (lavarse) la cara, y _______ (afeitarse). Luego ______ (vestirse = e > i) y ______ (tomar) un poco de desayuno. Por fin, _______ (lavarse) los dientes.
Hint: not all the verbs in this paragraph are reflexive!

A morning routine
Todos

los das, yo me levanto a las 7:00. Voy al bao, me lavo la cara, y me afeito. Luego me visto y tomo un poco de desayuno. Por fin, me lavo los dientes.

Did

you remember to use a reflexive pronoun with levanto, lavo, afeito, and visto? Did you remember to change the stem for visto?

Lets do another
Juana

______ (despertarse = e > ie) a las 6:30, ________ (levantarse), ______ (ir) al bao, y ________ (ducharse). Ella ______ (secarse), _______ (peinarse), y _______ (pintarse) la cara.

Otra rutina diaria

Juana

se despierta a las 6:30, se levanta, va al bao, y se ducha. Ella se seca, se peina, y se pinta la cara.

Did

you remember to use a reflexive pronoun with despierta, levanta, ducha, seca, peina, and pinta? Did you remember to change the stem on despierta?

Other things to remember

If

you use certain two-part verb combinations, the reflexive verb can either before the first verb or can be attached to the second verb. Querer + levantarse
Quiero

levantarme Me quiero levantar Quieres levantarte Te quieres levantar etc.

Make

sure that the reflexive pronoun agrees with the subject: yo <> me, t <> te

What about progressives?

Remember
Estoy

that progressives are also two-part verb combinations:

comiendo Estamos escribiendo

Refelxive
Estoy

pronouns can go before or after the verb:

lavndome el pelo Estamos lavndonos el pelo Me estoy lavando el pelo Nos estamos lavando el pelo

Whew! Thats a lot to remember!

True!

But keep in mind that the verb changes as it always does. You just have to remember to use the reflexive pronoun if you see an infinitive that ends in se. Youre now ready to move on to regular preterite verbs.