This article is one of a series called Spanish Tidbits for Beginners. Readers need a general working vocabulary base, as these lessons focus on specific grammar and vocabulary content.
In English, we do not often think about verbs that are reflexive, even though we use them fairly often, such as in our daily hygiene routine. In Spanish, though, reflexive verbs are a grammatical part of the lexicon, because there is a clear construction in the infinitive form that sets them apart from other verbs. We will even find lots of reflexive verbs in the dictionary!
When we say that somebody does something to himself, we use a reflexive verb.
In English, an example would be I wash myself. The person doing the action is also receiving the action. It’s called reflexive because the action reflects on the one doing it. Grammatically speaking, the subject of the verb is also the object.
Using Reflexive Verbs with Their Pronouns
Spanish reflexive verbs appear in the infinitive form with the reflexive pronoun se on the end, as in lavarse. We can find lavarse in the Spanish dictionary. Without se, it would simply mean to wash, which we could apply to dishes and other things, including people.
Each subject pronoun has its own reflexive pronoun, as follows. Notice that they are similar but not identical to indirect object pronouns. Here’s the pattern.
Singular
first person me
second person te
third person se
Plural
first person nos
second person os
third person se
For example, two verbs which follow this pattern are lavarse (to wash oneself) and bañarse (to bathe oneself). We conjugate the verbs as normal, but put the reflexive pronoun before the verb. This follows the same pattern as above.
Singular
me lavo, me baño
te lavas, te bañas
se lava, se baña
Plural
nos lavamos, nos bañamos
os laváis, os bañáis
se lavan, se bañan
Notice that the reflexive pronoun for the third person singular and plural, se, is the same for both.
To indicate that a person washes or bathes a particular part of his body, simply add the part to the end of the sentence. But still use the reflexive verb, because he’s still doing the action to himself.
Me lavo las manos. I wash my hands.
Juan se pone la chaqueta. Juan puts on his jacket.
Nosotros nos acostamos temprano. We go to bed early.
We can also include the subject pronoun if we want, perhaps to emphasize it.
Yo me lavo las manos. I wash my hands.
By the way, it is not necessary to use the possessive pronoun my for body parts when the owner is very clear in the context of the sentence. Simply use the definite article.
An exception to this kind of reflexive verb is dolerse, meaning to hurt oneself. This construction does not follow the sentence structure in English. Here, the subject doing the action is not the one receiving it. When we want to say that a part of my body hurts me, the body part is the subject doing the hurting and me is the one being hurt, or the object of the sentence. If the subject is plural, the verb is, too.
Me duele la cabeza. My head hurts (me).
Me duelen los pies. My feet hurt (me).
By the way, you may have noticed that doler is a o → ue stem-changing verb. In the reflexive of dolerse only the third person is used, like gustar.
If we are going to have a conjugated verb followed by another verb that depends on it, we can either place the reflexive pronoun in front of the conjugated verb, or attach it to the end of the infinitive, whichever you prefer.
Yo me quiero duchar. I want to take a shower.
Yo quiero ducharme. I want to take a shower.
A List of Common Reflexive Verbs
As said above, a reflexive verb is used to tell what one does to himself. One extra thing to remember about this in Spanish is that we use reflexive verbs whenever one does something to himself, even if we don’t use the reflexive pronoun in English. One example is despertarse, meaning to wake up. In Spanish, the literal construction is to wake oneself. Many of the common reflexive verbs refer to our daily routine.
The verbs below are all reflexive verbs. By the way, if there is a set of parentheses following the verb, it indicates a stem change.
despertarse (ie) to wake up
acostarse (ue) to go to bed
bañarse to bathe
lavarse to wash
cepillarse el pelo to brush hair
lavarse los dientes to brush teeth
ponerse la ropa to put on clothes
quitarse la ropa to take off clothes
vestirse (I) to get dressed
afeitarse to shave
mirarse en el espejo to look in the mirror
ducharse to take a shower
maquillarse to put on makeup
peinarse to comb hair
pasearse to go for a walk
irse to go away
atreverse to dare (oneself)
llamarse to be called
quedarse to stay, remain
dormirse to fall asleep
quejarse to complain
desayunarse to have breakfast
There are many more. These are just a few to give you the idea of how they are used and for what type of purpose. You may find some verbs in Spanish being reflexive for no reason that you can see. In that case, just accept it and use it following the pattern. Remember to use the correct reflexive pronoun when conjugating.
Exercises: Reflexive Verbs
A Write the correct present tense conjugation of the verb in parentheses in the blank. If you have a Spanish verb book, it will help you.
1. Tú te ______________________ la cara por la mañana. (maquillarse) You put on makeup in the morning.
2. Nosotros nos ______________________ el abrigo después de las clases. (quitarse) We take off our coat before class.
3. Yo me ______________________ el vestido esta tarde. (ponerse) I put on my dress this afternoon.
4. Uds. se ______________________ “Los Atrevidos.” (llamarse) They call themselves The Daring Ones.
5. Ella se ______________________ el pelo mucho por la noche. (cepillarse) She brushes her hair a lot at night.
B According to the subject pronoun given at the beginning of the sentence, write the correct reflexive pronoun.
1. Ella ___________ lava las orejas. (lavarse) She washes her ears.
2. Yo ___________ afeito las piernas. (lavarse) I shave my legs.
3. Tú ___________ peinas el pelo. You comb your hair.
4. Ellos ___________ bañan por la noche. They bath themselves at night.
5. Nosotros ___________ quejamos después del discurso
Answers
A 1. maquillas; 2. quitamos; 3. pongo; 4. llaman; 5. cepilla
B 1. se; 2. me; 3. te; 4. se; 5. nos
