REFLEXIVE VERBS

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:

Utilize the correct reflexive pronoun ( make sure it matches with whom your subject is).
Place your reflexive pronouns before your conjugated verb form .

Subject	Reflexive pronoun	Meaning
Yo	Me	Myself
Tú	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!