Chapter 16 -- Reflexive verbs
In English, actions which are received by the person doing the action are generally not distinguished in any way, unless there is a special reason to do so.
For example, if I tell someone that I shaved this morning, it will be understood that I was the person who received the action of shaving, and no additional information is necessary.
In English, the reflexive forms are expressed by using words such as myself, yourself, and so on.
In Spanish, when a person performs an action, and also receives that action, a reflexive verb is used. If no reflexive form is used, that fact means the action was directed to another person.
Let us look at the verb afeitar as an example. The verb afeitar means to shave another person or to shave something.
The verb afeitarse means to shave oneself. All reflexive verbs are combined with a pronoun. Some examples follow.
I shave, am shaving |
Yo me afeito (me indicates I am shaving myself) |
You shaved, did shave |
Tú te afeitaste |
He or she will shave |
Él, ella se afeitará |
You (polite) would shave |
Usted se afeitaría |
Who shaved? |
¿Quién se afeitó? |
We used to shave |
Nosotros nos afeitábamos |
You shave, are shaving |
Vosotros os afeitáis |
They or you shave, are shaving |
Ellos, ellas, ustedes se afeitan |
Who washed their hands |
Quienes se lavaron las manos |
The pronouns are the same for all verbs regardless of group or tense. Some examples follow.
I will wash my hands. |
Yo me lavaré las manos. (the verb is lavarse) |
He was bathing. |
Él se bañaba. (the verb is bañarse) |
She already left. |
Ella ya se fue. (the verb is irse) |
In declarative statements, the pronouns precede the verb.
A command or request such as “Please, wash your hands.” will be translated as “ Por favor, lávese las manos.”
As can be seen, the pronoun follows the verb in these forms.
In dictionaries, verbs which are used exclusively in the reflexive form will be shown with se after the verb.
Verbs which can be used with or without reflexive forms will be shown with se in parentheses, or be indicated in some other way.
This book is available from lulu.com under item number 3352644. Books purchased from Lulu are accompanied by a complete list of irregular verbs and all of their forms.
Chapter 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26
To send an electronic message to the webmaster, click here: