Reflexive Verbs

Reflexive verbs are used to tell that a person does something to or for him- or herself.

They have 2 parts:

1 - a reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nos, os, se)

2 - verb form.

LAVARSE(to wash oneself)

VerbForm

ReflexivePronoun

In English, we really don’t identify with reflexive verbs. So these will seem strange to you.

In English, a sentence using a “so called” reflexive verb might be…

Lauren brushes her hair.Scott bathes himself.

You must remember that these are actions being done to oneself, by oneself. For example:

I wash my (my own) hair.

me (to myself)

te (to yourself)

se (to himself)

(to herself)(to itself)

nos (to ourselves)

os (to you all)

se (to themselves) (to you all) (to each other)

I wash myselfYou wash yourselfHe, She, It washes himelf, etc.

We wash ourselvesThey wash themselves

me lavo

te lavas

se lava

nos lavamos

os laváis

se lavan

They can either go before a conjugated verb or after an infinitive.

Before the verb:Me voy a lavar el pelo.

After the infinitive:Voy a lavarme el pelo.

Let’s do more verbs!

me cepillo

te cepillas

se cepilla

nos cepillamos

os cepilláis

se cepillan

me ducho

te duchas

se ducha

nos duchamos

os ducháis

se duchan

When using reflexive verbs to talk about parts of the body, use the definite article. (the el, la, los, las that mean “the”)

Nos lavamos el pelo.

Te cepillas los dientes?