Not the favorite topic of Spanish students, especially coming from a language without a common equivalent – Reflexive verbs are indeed an important grammatical topic to get your head around pretty early on.

Reflexive verbs are simply when the subject of the verb is also its object. What does this mean? Let’s start off slow and work our way forward with some easy examples.

A reflexive verb requires a reflexive personal pronoun, and these are:

Yo → me

Tú → te

Él / ella → se

Nosotos → nos

Ellos / ellas → se

Ustedes → se

Note that 3 of the examples are “se”, thus will be used ½ of the time.

As noted above, reflexive verbs are the verbs where the action of the verb back to the subject. In simple terms, this means that the person doing the action is also the person who receives the action.

For example:

Yo me lavo . – I wash myself.

– Ellos se visten . – They dress themselves. (They get dressed)

– Yo me baño . – I bathe. (myself)

In Spanish some verbs use the reflexive form, but not in English, but still have the same reflexive idea, the action of the verb back to the subject.

For example:

Yo me acuesto temprano. – I go to bed early.

Ella se acercó mucho a la baranda. – She came very close to the railing.

– Los niños se cepillaron los dientes antes de dormir. – The children brushed their teeth before bed.

Reflexive pronouns generally precede the verb in the simple tenses. In its original form the verb ends in “se” and change the “se” by the reflexive pronouns that we saw previously.

For example for the verb: Acostarse:

Yo me acuesto – I go to sleep (I put myself to sleep)

Tú te acuestas – You go to sleep (You put yourself to sleep)

Él / ella se acuesta – He/she goes to sleep (He/she puts their self to sleep)

Nosotros nos acostamos – We go to sleep (We put ourselves to sleep)

Ellos / ellas se acuestan – They go to sleep (They put themselves to sleep)

Ustedes se acuestan – You(pl) go to sleep (You put yourselves to sleep)

NOTE: when the statement is negative, “no” comes before the reflexive pronoun.

For example:

Los niños no se acostaron temprano. – The children did not go to sleep early.

– Él no se bañó hoy. – He did not bathe today.

– Nosotros no nos disfrazamos para Halloween. – We do not dress up for Halloween.

When a reflexive verb is used as an infinitive, the reflexive pronoun is attached to the end of the infinitive or placed before the conjugated verb. Both forms are accepted.

For example:

Tú no quieres acostar te temprano. / Tú no te quieres acostar temprano. – You do not want to go to sleep early.

– Voy a bamar me . / Me voy a bañar . – I´m going to take a bath.

– Queremos levantar nos ahora. / Nos queremos levantar ahora. – We want to get up now.

When the reflexive verb is used in a progressive tense, the reflexive pronoun is attached to the end of the present participle (gerund) or placed before the conjugated verb. When it is attached to the gerund, an accent mark is required. Both forms are accepted.

For example:

Estoy lavándo me la cara. / Me estoy lavando la cara. – I am washing my face.

– Ella estaba acostándo se cuando llegué. / Ella se estaba acostando cuando llegué. – She was going to bed when I arrived.

When the reflexive verb is used in a compound tenses like the present prefect etc. the reflexive pronoun comes before the conjugated form of the helping (auxiliary) verb “haber”.

For example:

En este día ella se ha bañado como tres veces. – On this day she has bathed about three times.

– Ellos ya se habían acercado a mí antes de hacerlo yo. – They already had approached me before I did.

– Tú no te has afeitado como en cien años. – You have not shaved in about a hundred years.

When the reflexive verb is used in affirmative commands, reflexive pronouns follow the verb and are attached to it. In negative commands, reflexive pronouns precede the verb. Affirmative commands with more than two syllables have a written accent over the stressed vowel.

For example:

Báña te temprano por favor. – Bathe early please.

– No te bañes temprano por favor. – Do not bathe early please.

– Láven se las manos. – Wash your hands.

– No se laven las manos. – Do not wash your hands.

Common Spanish reflexive verbs to put in your back pocket:

apresurarse – to hurry up

acercarse – to approach

acordarse de – to remember

acostarse – to go to bed

afeitarse – to shave

avergonzarse de – to be embarrassed

asustarse / espantarse – to be frightened

ahogarse – to drown, to choke

atreverse a – to dare

aburrirse – to bore (someone)

aprovecharse de – to take advantage of (an opportunity)

arrepentirse de – to regret, to be sorry, to repent

asegurarse de – to secure, to assure, to make sure

acostumbrarse a – to be in the habit, to get accustomed

burlarse de – to make fun of

bañarse / ducharse – to take a shower

comportarse / portarse – to behave

callarse – to be silent, to keep quiet

cepillarse – to brush

casarse con – to marry, to get married

cansarse (de) – to wear out, to get tired

concentrarse – to concentrate

chocarse – to crash

cuidarse – to look after oneself, take care of oneself

confundirse – to mistake

disfrazarse – to dress up, to disguise

despertarse – to wake up

divertirse – to enjoy oneself

dormirse – to fall asleep

derretirse – to melt

derretirse por – to fall madly in love

despedirse de – to say goodbye

detenerse – to stop

dedicarse – to devote oneself to

enojarse / enfadarse (con) – to get angry (with)

esforzarse – to exert oneself

encontrarse con – to meet

equivocarse – to be mistaken, be wrong, make a mistake

encargarse de – to be in charge (with/of), to take care

echarse – to pour (spill) on oneself

ejercitarse – to train, to practice

enamorarse de – to be in love with, to fall in love with

ganarse la vida – to make a living

hacerse/convertirse en – to become

irse / marcharse – to leave, to go away

imaginarse – to imagine, to suppose

lavarse – to wash oneself

levantarse – to get up

llamarse – to be name, to called

maquillarse / pintarse – to put on makeup

molestarse – to mad

negarse a – to refuse to

ocuparse de – to attend to, to be concerned with, to busy oneself with

peinarse – to comb one’s hair

preocuparse por – to worry

ponerse – to put on (clothing), to wear

ponerse (triste, feliz…..) – to become

ponerse a + infinitive – to begin to

ponerse en marcha (en camino) – to start out, to set out

quejarse – to moan (pain), to complain

quedarse – to stay, to remain

quitarse – to take off (clothing)

reunirse – to join in / to meet up

reirse de – to laugh at

rendirse – to surrender

recostarse – to recline, to lie down, to lie back, to rest

sentirse – to feel (something inside of you, emotional feelings)

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