Los Verbos Reflexivos

Reflexive verbs In this presentation, we are going to look at a special group of verbs called reflexives. Let’s 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.

What’s 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 one’s body.

Lavarse Here are the forms: me lavo nos lavamos te lavas os laváis se lava se lavan The “me, te, se, nos, os and 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.

Let’s try one. Llamarse: to call oneself yo______ nosotros/as ______ tú______ vosotos/as_______ él/ella/Ud.______ ellos/as/Uds.______

Llamarse Llamarse Llamar -- se yo me llamo nosotros/as nos llamamos tú te llamas vosotos/as os llamáis Él/ella se llama ellos/as se llaman Ud. Uds. Does this look familiar? Me llamo Sra. Andrews.

What’s going on here? yo me llamo nosotros/as nos llamamos tú te llamas vosotos/as os llamáis Él/ella se llama ellos/as se llaman Ud. Uds The verb endings are the usual ones for –ar verbs. ¿Cierto o falso?

Brillante! yo me llamo nosotros/as nos llamamos tú te llamas vosotos/as os llamáis Él/ella se llama ellos/as se llaman Ud. The only difference is that we have to add the reflexive pronoun (before the conjugated verb).

Okay, how about some more reflexive verbs? Levantarse Sentarse (e>ie) Dormirse (o>ue) Ponerse (-go verb) Acostarse (o>ue) Afeitarse Bañarse Cepillarse (el pelo/los dientes) Cortarse (el pelo) ducharse Pintarse (uñas/labios) prepararse Secarse vestirse (e>i) Lavarse (various body parts including teeth) Página 98 del libro de texto

Levantarse yo me levanto nosotros/as nos levantamos tú te levantas vosotos/as os levantáis Él/ella se levanta ellos/as se levantan Ud. This verb is regular so it has regular endings. You just add the reflexive pronoun. This verb has regular endings.

Sentarse (e > ie) yo me siento *nosotros/as nos sentamos tú te sientas *vosotros/as os sentáis Él/ella/Ud. se sienta ellos/as/Uds se sientan This verb is stem-changing. So you must change the stem in all places but nosotos & vosotros and add the reflexive pronoun.

Dormirse ( o > ue ) yo me duermo nosotros nos dormimos tú te duermes vosotros/as dormís él/ella/Ud. se duerme ellos/as/Uds. se duermen This is another stem-changing verb. Use the regular –ir verb endings, change the stem and add the reflexive pronoun.

Ponerse (go verb0 yo me pongo nosotros/as nos ponemos tú te pones vosotros/as os ponéis él/ella/Ud. se pone ellos/as/Uds. se ponen This is a –go verb which means the –yo form ens in “go”. It uses the usual –er verb endings and you just add the reflexive pronouns.

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, os, se The difference in meaning is: Dormir: to sleep (usually a period of time) Dormirse: to fall asleep (usually at a certain time) Reflexive verbs often have a special meaning, such as ‘change in condition’ – from being awake to being asleep.

A morning routine Todos los días, yo ______ (levantarse) a las 7:00. ______ (ir) al baño, _______ (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 días, yo me levanto a las 7:00. Voy al baño, 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?

Let’s do another Juana ______ (despertarse = e > ie) a las 6:30 , ________ (levantarse), ______ (ir) al baño, y ________ (ducharse). Ella ______ (secarse), _______ (peinarse), y _______ (pintarse) la cara. En la noche ella _______ (dormirse) a las 10:00.

Otra rutina diaria Juana se despierta a las 6:30, se levanta, va al baño, y se ducha. Ella se seca, se peina, y se pinta la cara. En la noche ella se duerme a las 10:00. 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 and duerme?

Other things to remember If you use certain verb constructions that include an infinitive, the reflexive pronoun can either go before the conjugated verb or attached to the infinitive. Ir + a + Infinitive (to be going to) Me voy a duchar OR Voy a ducharme. Tener + que + infinitive (to have to) Te tienes que duchar. OR Tienes que ducharte. Make sure that the reflexive pronoun agrees with the subject: yo <> me, tú <> te

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 Me quiero levantar OR Quiero levantarme Necesitar + bañarse Me necesito bañar OR Necesito bañarme. NOTE: With the gustar construction, the reflexive pronoun will always be attached to the infinitive because you already have a pronoun before “gusta/gustan” Me gusta bañarme por la mañana. ¿Te gusta pintarte la uñas?

Whew! That’s 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.