Topic Summaries

Reflexive verbs

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  • Reflexive verbs are actions that a person does to themselves.
  • In Spanish, they use special words called reflexive pronouns: me, te, se (for 1st, 2nd, 3rd person singular). These show that the subject does something to itself. Reflexive pronouns come before the reflexive verb.
  • You can tell if a verb is reflexive if it ends in -se in the infinitive, e.g. lavarse (to wash oneself), vestirse (to dress oneself).
  • Examples:
    • Yo me lavo. (I wash myself)
    • Tú te lavas. (You wash yourself)
    • Él se lava. (He washes himself)
  • Compare this to the non-reflexive version:
    • Yo lavo el coche. (I wash the car.) [not reflexive]
  • Some verbs change their meaning when reflexive:
Base verb Reflexive form Meaning change
poner ponerse to become/to put on (clothes)
dormir dormirse to fall asleep (not just sleep)
sentar sentarse to sit down (yourself)

Reflexive verb conjugation
Person lavarser (-ar) (to wash) comerse (-er) (to eat) vestirse (ir, stem-changing) (to get dressed)
yo me lavo me como me visto
te lavas te comes te vistes
él/ella/usted se lava se come se viste
nosotros/as nos lavamos nos comemos nos vestimos
vosotros/as os laváis os coméis os vestís
ellos/ellas/ustedes se lavan se comen se visten

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