1.3.0: Gramática

Let’s talk a bit more about the verbs in Sarah’s diary entry. As you saw, they are different from other verbs we have seen. They’re more like gustar, but they’re also different from gustar. These verbs are called reflexive verbs.

A reflexive verb is a verb that is accompanied by a reflexive pronoun. This verb construction is used when a person performs an action to or for him/herself. In other words, the subject of the verb and the direct object of the verb are the same person. It is important to note that reflexive verbs can sometimes be unintuitive for English speakers because they are not very common in English; yet, they are used quite a bit in Spanish. So it is important to learn not just how to form reflexive verbs, but also when to use them.

Definition: Reflexive Verbs

Reflexive verbs are used when a person performs an action to or for him/herself and is accompanied by a reflexive pronoun.

You have already seen the reflexive verb llamarse when you learned to introduce yourself in Spanish in the beginning of FL107.

Modelo:

Me llamo Sara. (I call myself / My name is Sara)

Another typical use of reflexive verbs is personal care, as seen in these examples from Sara’s diary.

Modelo:

Me levanto a las 6:00 de la mañana. (I wake up at 6 am.)

 

I. Los verbos reflexivos

These verbs are commonly used to describe rutinas diarias, like the ones included in Sara’s diary. Have a look at the following table:

Los verbos reflexivos

acostarse	to go to bed
afeitarse	to shave
arreglarse	to get ready (to go somewhere)
bañarse	to take a bath
cepillarse (el pelo, los dientes)	to brush (one’s hair, one’s teeth)
despertarse	to wake up
divertirse	to have fun / enjoy oneself
dormirse	to fall asleep
ducharse	to take a shower
irse	to leave
irse a la cama	to go to bed
lavarse (la cara, los dientes)	to wash (one’s face, one’s teeth)
levantarse	to get up
maquillarse	to put on makeup
peinarse (el pelo)	to comb one’s hair
pintarse (las uñas)	to paint one’s nails
ponerse la ropa	to put on one’s clothes; to get dressed
relajarse	to relax
sacarse/quitarse la ropa	to take off one’s clothes; to undress
secarse (el pelo)	to dry oneself; to dry one’s hair

 

II. Los pronombres reflexivos

When conjugating a reflexive verb, we need to use a reflexive pronoun as part of the verb phrase. We will see how this works in the following section. But first, let’s have a look at the pronouns. What do you notice about them? Have a look at the verb endings too. What do you notice?

Levantarse

(yo) me levanto	I get up
(tú) te levantas	you (inf.) get up
(vos) te levantás	you (inf.) get up (Argentina, Uruguay)
(él/ella/Ud.) se levanta	he/she gets up; you (fml.) get up
(nosotros) nos levantamos	we get up
(vosotros) os levantáis	you (inf., plural, Spain) get up
(ellos/as, Uds.) se levantan	they get up; you (plural) get up

 

III. La conjugación de los verbos reflexivos

Conjugating reflexive verbs is a three-step process. Let’s see…

1. Breaking down the verb: It is important to understand that reflexive verbs can be broken into three sections for their conjugation. As you learned in FL107, (verbs end in -ar and verbs ending in -er and -ir), all verbs have a stem and an ending. Besides these two elements, reflexive verbs in the infinitive also have the -se ending to indicate they are reflexive. Let’s have a look at the verb we just saw levantarse:

Parts of a Reflexive Verb

Stem	Ending	Reflexive Part
levant	ar	se

2. Reflexive pronouns: In order to conjugate the verb, the first thing we need to do is to drop the se. Now we have the verb levantar. However, we need to indicate that 1) it is a reflexive verb and 2) who is doing the action. These two needs can be answered by a reflexive pronoun. So we need to choose a pronoun out of the ones we presented in section II, and our choice will, of course, be determined by who is doing the action. Let’s see…

Modelo:

• (yo) me + levanto
• Amy se + levanta
• Las chicas y yo nos + levantamos

3 ¿Dónde están los pronombres reflexivos?

We place reflexive pronouns before the conjugated verb: Amy siempre se levanta saltando (jumping) de la cama.

When the sentence is negative, you place the reflexive pronoun after the particle no and before the conjugated verb: Amy no se levanta a las 6:00 de la mañana.

Modelo:

• Amy no se maquilla.
• Mi mamá se ducha.
• (Yo) me cepillo los diente.

 

Your turn now! Con un@ compañer@, conjugate these two reflexive verbs: ducharse, irse. Use the table below.

Exercise A

	Reflexive Pronoun	ducharse	irse
(yo)
(tú)
(él/ella/Ud.)
(nosotros)
(vosotros)
(ellos/as, Uds.)

Answer

	Reflexive Pronoun	ducharse	irse
(yo)	me	ducho	voy
(tú)	te	duchas	vas
(él/ella/Ud.)	se	ducha	va
(nosotros)	nos	duchamos	vamos
(vosotros)	os	ducháis	vais
(ellos/as, Uds.)	se	duchan	van

 

IV. ¿Cuándo? Los hábitos: Frecuencias

Now that you are an expert on reflexive verbs, let’s learn some expressions that you can use to talk about how often you do something; that is, to talk about your routine. Here are some useful frequency expressions.

Frecuencias

a menudo	often
a veces	sometimes
casi nunca	almost never/hardly ever
casi siempre	almost always
con bastante frecuencia	quite often
de vez en cuando	occasionally
generalmente	usually
los fines de semana	during the weekend
nunca	never
siempre	always
todos los días	everyday
una vez a la semana	once a week
una vez al mes	once a month

 

Modelo:

• Casi siempre me levanto a las 6 de la mañana.
• Casi nunca me levanto después de las 8 de la mañana.

 

Use the following chat mat as you converse with others: 

Attribution: Kelsey Harper, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0