Reflexive verbs

In this presentation, we are

going to look at a special group

of verbs called reflexives.

Let‟s start out by thinking of the

English verb wash. List

several things that you can

wash.

Some examples

I wash my clothes, I wash

the dishes, I wash the car,

I wash the windows.

I wash my hands, I wash

my hair, I wash my face.

What’s the difference?

I wash my clothes, I wash the dishes, I wash the car, I wash the windows.

I can wash things that are not part of me, that is, not attached to my body.

In Spanish, we say, “Lavo la ropa, lavo los platos, lavo el coche, lavo las ventanas.”

… and…

I wash my hands, I wash

my hair, I wash my face.

I also wash things that are

attached to my body –

hands, face, hair (unless

you wear a toupee!).

In Spanish, we say, “Me

lavo las manos, me lavo

el pelo, me lavo la cara.”

And your point is…?

Lavo la ropa, lavo los platos,

lavo el coche, lavo las ventanas.

Me lavo las manos, me lavo el

pelo, me lavo la cara.

If you are washing something

that is attached, you need to add

the word “me.”

Huh?

There are two ways to

talk about washing in

Spanish:

Lavar: to wash something

else

Lavarse: to wash part of

one‟s body.

Lavarse

Here are the forms:

me lavo

te lavas

se lava

nos lavamos

se lavan

The “me, te, se, nos, se”

forms are called reflexive

pronouns.

How do you get those forms?

The infinitive has a –se

attached to it to show that the

subject is doing something to

him/herself.

Drop the –se.

Change the verb as usual.

Put the appropriate reflexive

pronoun in front of the verb.

Let’s try one.

Llamarse: to call oneself

yo______

tú______

él______

nosotros ______

ellos ______

Llamarse

Llamarse

Llamar -- se

yo me llamo

tú te llamas

él se llama

nosotros nos llamamos

ellos se llaman

Does this look familiar?

What’s going on here?

yo me llamo

tú te llamas

él se llama

nosotros nos llamamos

ellos se llaman

The verb endings are

the usual ones.

Brillante!

yo me llamo

tú te llamas

él se llama

nosotros nos llamamos

ellos se llaman

The only difference is that we have to add the reflexive pronoun (before the verb).

Okay, how about some more reflexive verbs?

Levantarse: to get/stand up

Sentarse (e > ie): to sit down

Dormirse (o > ue): to fall asleep

Ponerse (-go): to put on an article

of clothing

Levantarse

yo me levanto

tú te levantas

él se levanta

nosotros nos levantamos

ellos se levantan

This verb has regular endings.

Sentarse (e > ie)

yo me siento

tú te sientas

él se sienta

nosotros nos sentamos

ellos se sientan

This verb is stem-changing.

Dormirse

yo me duermo

tú te duermes

él se duerme

nosotros nos dormimos

ellos se duermen

This is another stem-changing verb.

Ponerse

yo me pongo

tú te pones

él se pone

nosotros nos ponemos

ellos se ponen

This –go verb changes as usual.

Dormir vs Dormirse

The verb forms are the same: duermo,

duermes, duerme, dormimos, duermen

The difference in form is the addition of the

reflexive pronouns: me, te, se, nos, se

The difference in meaning is:

Dormir: to sleep

Dormirse: to fall asleep

Reflexive verbs often have a special

meaning, such as „change in condition‟ –

from being awake to being asleep.

A morning routine

Todos los días, yo ______ (levantarse)

a las 7:00. ______ (ir) al baño,

_______ (lavarse) la cara, y _______

(afeitarse). Luego ______ (vestirse = e

> i) y ______ (tomar) un poco de

desayuno. Por fin, _______ (lavarse)

los dientes.

Hint: not all the verbs in this paragraph are reflexive!

A morning routine

Todos los días, yo me levanto a las 7:00. Voy al baño, me lavo la cara, y me afeito. Luego me visto y tomo un poco de desayuno. Por fin, me lavo los dientes.

Did you remember to use a reflexive pronoun with levanto, lavo, afeito, andvisto?

Did you remember to change the stem for visto?

Let’s do another

Juana ______ (despertarse = e > ie) a

las 6:30, ________ (levantarse),

______ (ir) al baño, y ________

(ducharse). Ella ______ (secarse),

_______ (peinarse), y _______

(pintarse) la cara.

Otra rutina diaria

Juana se despierta a las 6:30, se levanta, va al baño, y se ducha. Ella se seca, se peina, y se pinta la cara.

Did you remember to use a reflexive pronoun with despierta, levanta, ducha, seca, peina, and pinta?

Did you remember to change the stem on despierta?

Other things to remember

If you use certain two-part verb combinations, the reflexive verb can either before the first verb or can be attached to the second verb.

Querer + levantarseQuiero levantarme

Me quiero levantar

Quieres levantarte

Te quieres levantar

etc.

Make sure that the reflexive pronoun agrees with the subject: yo <> me, tú <> te

What about progressives?

Remember that progressives are also

two-part verb combinations:

Estoy comiendo

Estamos escribiendo

Refelxive pronouns can go before or

after the verb:

Estoy lavándome el pelo

Estamos lavándonos el pelo

Me estoy lavando el pelo

Nos estamos lavando el pelo

Whew! That’s a lot to remember!

True! But keep in mind that the

verb changes as it always does.

You just have to remember to

use the reflexive pronoun if you

see an infinitive that ends in –se.

You‟re now ready to move on to

#11, regular preterite verbs.