Verbs: Reflexive Verbs

In Spanish, much like English or any language, we often do things to ourselves: I bathe myself. I wake myself up. She hurts herself. He cut himself. We dress ourselves. We call these actions (verbs) “reflexive”. Reflexive verbs must be used with a reflexive pronoun in order to indicate that the subject is performing the action of the verb upon itself. Reflexive verbs exist in English, but they are much more common in Spanish. Reflexive verbs usually have to do with parts of the body, clothing, or one's state of mind. You can recognize reflexive verbs by the "se" tacked on to the infinitive. Here are some common reflexive verbs:

aburrirse

to get bored

acostarse

to go to bed

afeitarse

to shave (oneself)

animarse

to cheer (oneself) up

arreglarse

to get (oneself) ready

bañarse

to bathe (oneself)

calmarse

to calm (oneself) down

caerse

to fall (down)

cansarse

to get tired

cepillarse

to brush (hair, teeth)

cortarse

to cut (hair, nails)

despedirse

to say goodbye to

despertarse

to wake up

divertirse

to have a good time (enjoy oneself)

dormirse

to fall asleep

ducharse

to shower (onself)

enfermarse

to get sick

enojarse

to get angry

lastimarse

to hurt oneself

lavarse

to wash oneself

levantarse

to get oneself up

maquillarse

to put makeup on (oneself)

peinarse

to comb (hair)

pintarse

to put on makeup, paint oneself

ponerse

to put on (clothes)

probarse

to try on

quedarse

to stay, remain

quemarse

to burn (oneself, one's body)

quitarse

to take off (clothes)

sentarse

to sit oneself down

vestirse

to get dressed

There are two separate tasks when conjugating reflexive verbs. First, take off the reflexive pronoun se, change it to agree with the subject of the verb, and place it directly in front of the verb. Then, as with all verbs, you must conjugate the infinitive according to whether it's an -ar, -er, -ir, stem-changing, or irregular verb.

THE REFLEXIVE PRONOUNS: ME TE SE NOS (OS) SE

Yo me ducho.

I'm taking a shower.

Marco se pone una camisa.

Marco is putting a shirt on.

Tú te lavas la cara.

You're washing your face.

Nosotros nos quedamos aquí.

We're staying here.

Quick ReviewReflexive Verbs - Choose the correct translation. Is it reflexive or not?

1)      I wash the car.                Is it reflexive?  (circle) YES  NO

a)      Lavo el auto.

b)      Me lavo el auto.

2)      I take a bath.                Is it reflexive?  (circle) YES  NO

a)      Me baño.

b)      Yo baño.

3)      Juan goes to bed at ten in the evening.                Is it reflexive?  (circle) YES  NO

a)      Juan se acuesta a las diez de la noche.

b)      Juan acuesta a las diez de la noche.

4)      Maria puts the baby to bed at seven in the evening.              Is it reflexive?  (circle) YES  NO

a)      María se acuesta al bebé a las siete de la noche.

b)      María acuesta al bebé a las siete de la noche.

5)      I wake up at six in the morning.                Is it reflexive?  (circle) YES  NO

a)      Me despierto a las seis de la mañana.

b)      Despierto a las seis de la mañana.

6)      She wakes her child at nine in the morning.                Is it reflexive?  (circle) YES  NO

a)      Ella se despierta a su niño a las nueve de la mañana.

b)       Ella despierta a su niño a las nueve de la mañana.

B. Choose the appropriate reflexive pronoun.

7.      You take a shower: Tú __________ duchas.

8.      Maria washes her hair: María __________lava el pelo.

9.      You-all wake up:  Ustedes ___________ despiertan.

10.  We brush our teeth:  Nosotros __________ cepillamos los dientes.

11.  She gets dressed:  Ella _____________ viste.

12.  They sit down:  Ellos ____________sientan.

13.  I worry about you:  (Yo) _________preocupo por ti.

C. Write the correct form of the verb.

14.  Maria washes her hair. (lavarse)  María se _______________ el pelo.

15.  We take a shower. (ducharse)    Nosotros nos ___________________. 

16.  They brush their teeth. (cepillarse)    Ellos se ____________los dientes.

17.  I shave my legs. (afeitarse)   Yo me _____________ las piernas.

18.  The boys fall asleep. (dormirse o:ue)   Los niños se ________________.

19.  The young ladies get dressed. (vestirse e:i)    Las señoritas se __________________.

20.  We sit down. (sentarse e:ie)    Nosotros nos ______________________.

D. How would you say (and include the subject pronoun!):

21.  I prepare myself. ________________________________

22.  She paints her nails. ________________________________

23.  We dress ourselves with new clothes. _________________________________________

24.  They shower in the morning.________________________________________________

25.  I wake up at 6 in the morning. _______________________________________________

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