REFLEXIVE VERBS

When a verb is reflexive the person performing the action also receives the benefits or impact of the action (such as bathing oneself, brushing one` s hair, etc.). As you may notice, most of the verbs which follow can actually be used non-reflexively as well, depending upon the meaning of the sentence.

 

In order for the reflexive verb to be used correctly, one must:

 

Subject Reflexive pronoun Meaning
Yo Me Myself
Te Yourself
Él, ella, usted Se Him/her/yourself
Nosotros Nos Ourselves
Vosotros Os Yourselves
Ellos/as, ustedes Se Them/yourselves



Some reflexive verbs:

Acostarse (oà ue) to go to bed
Bañarse to bathe oneself
Calmarse to calm down
Casarse (con) to get married (to)
Despertarse (eà ie) to wake up
Divertirse (eà ie) to enjoy oneself, have fun
Divorciarse to get divorced
Dormirse (oà ue) to fall asleep
Enojarse to become angry
Irse to go away
Llamarse to be named, call oneself
Levantarse to get up
Ponerse (+ adjective) to become (+adjective)
Preocuparse to worry
Quedarse to stay, remain
Sentarse (eà ie) to sit down
Sentirse (eà ie) to feel
Vestirse (eà i) to get dressed



Some conjugated reflexive verbs:

Acostarse
Me acuesto Nos acostamos
Te acuestas Os acostáis
Se acuesta Se acuestan



Despertarse
Me despierto Nos despertamos
Te despiertas Os despertáis
Se despierta Se despiertan



Vestirse
Me visto Nos vestimos
Te vistes Os vestís
Se viste Se visten



Remember:

* When a regular conjugated verb is followed by a reflexive infinitive, the reflexive pronoun can be directly attached to the end of the infinitive. Just make sure that you pronoun is in agreement with your subject!

      Quiero divertirme en la fiesta. OR    Me quiero divertir.

        Podemos levantarnos tarde porque es sábado. OR

                         Nos podemos levantar tarde porque es sábado.

*Similarly, when using the progressive tense (estar +-ando or -iendo form), the reflexive pronoun can be placed either before the conjugated form of estar,
OR attached directly to the end of the present participle..

                    Me estoy divirtiendo. OR  *Estoy divirtiéndome.

 *In the latter case, a written accent is added to the stressed vowel!!!



Need practice? Try an Online Reflexives Exercise!