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, and
visto?
 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 + levantarse
 Quiero
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
regular preterite verbs.