Otros verbos reflexivos
The following are some more common reflexive verbs and their non-reflexive equivalents:
Forma reflexiva |
Forma no reflexiva |
afeitarse (to shave oneself) |
afeitar (to shave someone or something) |
arreglarse (to get ready/ready oneself) |
arreglar (to arrange someone or something) |
caerse (to fall down) |
caer (to fall, go down) |
cansarse (to get tired) |
cansar (to tire out) |
cepillarse (to brush oneself) |
cepillar (to brush someone or something) |
ducharse (to shower oneself/take a shower) |
duchar (to shower/give someone a shower) |
irse (to go away, to leave) |
ir (to go) |
lastimarse (to hurt oneself) |
lastimar (to hurt someone or something) |
lavarse (to wash oneself) |
lavar (to wash someone or something) |
levantarse (to get up) |
levantar (to lift someone or something) |
llamarse (to be called, named) |
llamar (to call someone or something) |
maquillarse (to put make-up on oneself) |
maquillar (to put make-up on someone else) |
ponerse (to put on) |
poner (to put) |
probarse (to try on) |
probar (to try, to taste) |
quemarse (to burn oneself) |
quemar (to burn someone or something) |
quitarse (to take off, e.g. clothing) |
quitar (to take away from someone or something) |
relajarse (to relax oneself) |
relajar (to relax someone or something) |
Note that the meaning changes when the verb is reflexive or not.
¿Cómo se conjugan los verbos reflexivos?
To conjugate reflexive verbs, reflexive pronouns are used that match the verb ending; as usual in Spanish, you may specify the subject pronoun, especially for clarification, but subject pronouns may be left out of these sentences because the reflexive pronoun and verb ending should be clarification enough.
You probably noticed in the vocabulary list above that all reflexive infinitives end with the pronoun “se”. This ending is a reflexive pronoun, and is placed *before* a conjugated verb. This indicates that the subject of the sentence is doing the action to him/herself. The ending of the verb matches the subject (and the reflexive pronoun) according to the tense, and in this case we are still in the present tense. See the table that follows:
Subject Pronoun |
Reflexive Pronoun |
bañarse |
vestirse |
cepillarse |
dormirse |
yo |
me |
me baño |
me visto |
me cepillo |
me duermo |
tú |
te |
te bañas |
te vistes |
te cepillas |
te duermes |
él, ella, usted |
se |
se baña |
se viste |
se cepilla |
se duerme |
nosotros, nosotras |
nos |
nos bañamos |
nos vestimos |
nos cepillamos |
nos dormimos |
vosotros, vosotras |
os |
os bañáis |
os vestís |
os cepilláis |
os dormís |
ellos, ellas, ustedes |
se |
se bañan |
se visten |
se cepillan |
se duermen |
¡OJO! The reflexive pronoun “nos” and the subject pronoun “nosotros” are two different words, with different functions. Never think that “nos” is an abbreviation of “nosotros”!
To recap, in reflexive verbs the subject is acting on itself: this is the most common use of the reflexive, though there are others. Essentially reflexives are verbs where the subject and object are the same. Here’s a summary table with the reflexive pronouns:
|
Singular |
Plural |
1a persona |
me (myself) |
nos (ourselves) |
2a persona |
te (yourself – informal) |
os (yourself – formal) |
3a persona |
se (himself, herself, itself) |
se (themselves) |
Why is this so complicated for English speakers? Because there is no exact translation of the reflexive verbs into English. The reflexive usage is often translated in a non-reflexive way, as you have seen since the start of this course: “Ella se llama Carmen” literally translates to “She calls herself Carmen”, but it is translated into English as “Her name is Carmen.”