Reflexive
Verbs:
Some verbs in Spanish are known as reflexive verbs. When you conjugate them, you have to use a reflexive pronoun with them. Below are the rules re: reflexive verbs:
Rules for dealing with reflexive verbs:
1. Don't panic!
2. Reflexive verbs are verbs in which the
subject of a sentence does the action on/to/for himself. If you use a reflexive verb without the
reflexive pronoun then it can change the meaning of the verb.
Example:
Yo me baņo = I take a bath. Yo baņo...
= I bathe (something or someone other than myself).
Ella se duerme = She falls a sleep Ella duerme = She sleeps
Nosotros nos vamos. = We go away Nosotros vamos... = We go (to a place or to do something)
3. All reflexive verbs end with "se"
in their infinitive form.
4. Reflexive verbs use regular verb endings;
however, irregular verbs and stem-change verbs can also be reflexive.
Examples: Baņarse Irse Dormirse (o >
ue)
To
bathe oneself To go
away To fall asleep
5. Reflexive pronouns must be used with
reflexive verbs. Here are the reflexive
pronouns:
me te se nos se
6. When conjugating reflexive verbs they should
look like the following:
Example: Baņarse Irse Dormirse (o >
ue)
1PS Me baņo Me
voy Me duermo
2PS Te baņas Te
vas Te
duermes
3PS Se baņa Se
va Se duerme
1PP Nos baņamos Nos
vamos Nos dormimos
3PP Se baņan Se
van Se duermen
Additional
examples of reflexive verbs:
Lavarse = To wash oneself Llamarse =
To call oneself
Lavar = To wash (someone/thing else) Llamar
= To call (someone/thing else)
Levantarse = To get oneself up Sentarse (e >
ie) = To sit oneself down
Levantar = To raise/lift up (someone/thing else) Sentar (e > ie)
= To sitdown
(someone/thing else)
Despertarse (e > ie) = To wake oneself up Hablarse =
To talk to oneself
Despertar (e > ie) = To wake
up (someone/thing else) Hablar
= To talk/speak (to someone/thing else)
Translate the following into Spanish:
1. Do you wash your hands a lot?
2. Why does he wash his car every week?
3. I never get up on time.
4. When does he have to wake up his daughter?
5. We call ourselves "North
Americans".
6. She always calls her boyfriend on Fridays.
7. Where do I sit down?
8. They sit their children in those chairs when
they come here.
9. Do you talk to yourself a lot?
10. Do you speak more than one language?
11. Do you prefer to eat at home?
12. Is she returning to her job this afternoon?
13. How much money does the ticket cost?
14. We show the photos to our relatives when they are here.
15. Can you repeat the question?
16. What do you want to order?
17. Where do we begin?
18. Do they close the doors at 10:30 p.m. every
night?
19. They serve the best Mexican food in that
restaurant.
20. Are you going to return the book to the
library?
21. Do you want to eat lunch with me this
afternoon?
22. I have to order the pizza at 11:45 or it is
not going to be here on time.
23. Does he prefer to play soccer or not?
24. I eat lunch at 1:15 in the afternoon on
Tuesday and Thursdays.
25. I want to go to sleep early this evening.