Unidad Dos

Reflexive verbs In Spanish II you learned how to conjugate reflexive verbs. In this lesson, you will review the conjugation of reflexive verbs and learn some additional ways to use reflexives. In Spanish, whenever you perform an action on yourself instead of on someone else you should make the verb reflexive. For example; We get dressed. (Reflexive - We dress ourselves.) John takes a bath. (Reflexive - He bathes himself.) She washes the dishes. (Not reflexive – She didn’t wash herself she washed the dishes)

To make a verb reflexive you need to use a reflexive pronoun. The reflexive pronouns are; Reflexive pronoun English translationUse with this subject ME myselfI TE yourself inf.You inf. SE himself, herself, yourself for., (itself) He, She, You for., (it) NOS ourselvesWe OS yourselves inf. pl.You inf. pl. SE themselves, yourselves for. pl. They, You for. pl.

It’s easy to tell when a verb is reflexive by looking at the verb in a dictionary. You’ll notice that the reflexive pronoun se is attached to the end of the verb. Unconjugated reflexive verbs are always written this way. For example; bañarse – to take a bath Base verb Reflexive Pronoun

Bañarse To bathe Se Bañar To conjugate a reflexive verb, first remove the reflexive pronoun se from the end of the verb and place it upfront. Next, change se to match the subject. (Refer to the previous chart if you’ve forgotten the pronouns) Finally, conjugate the verb as you usually would. For example; 1.Move se upfront. 2. Now change se to match the subject – in this case Yo – and conjugate the verb. I take a bath Me baño

Ponerse To put on Se Poner ER and IR verbs work the same way as AR verbs do. For example; 1.Move se upfront 2. Now change se to match the subject and conjugate the verb. We put on Nos ponemos

Here’s an example for each verb type. SubjectCasarse to get married Atreverse to dare Aburrirse to get bored Yo Me caso I get married Me atrevo I dare Me aburro I get bored Tú Te casas You (inf) get married Te atreves You (inf) dare Te aburres You (inf) get bored Él, Ella, Usted Se casa He/She gets married You (for) get married Se atreve He/She dares You (for) dare Se aburre He/She gets bored You (for) get bored Nosotros Nos casamos We get married Nos atrevemos We dare Nos aburrimos We get bored Vosotros Os casáis You (inf pl) get married Os atrevéis You (inf pl) dare Os aburrís You (inf pl) get bored Ellos, Ellas, Ustedes Se casan They get married You (for pl) get married Se atreven They dare You (for pl) dare Se aburren They get bored You (for pl) get bored

Now you try it! On a piece of paper, or in your head, translate the following and then click for the correct answer. He is shaving. (Afeitarse) I comb my hair. (Peinarse) We take a bath. (Bañarse) You (inf) put on the hat. (Ponerse el sombrero) Él se afeita. Yo me peino. Nosotros nos bañamos. Tú te pones el sombrero.

Details Almost any verb can be made reflexive. For example; lavar = to wash, lavarse = to wash yourself Some verbs change meaning when used reflexively. For example; Dormir = to sleep, dormirse = to fall asleep Ir = to go, irse = to go away (to leave) When you use a reflexive verb with a 2 nd unconjugated verb, you may either attach the pronoun to the end of the second verb, or you may place it before the first verb. Both ways are correct, but many Spanish speakers prefer to attach the pronoun. For example; I want to take a bath. = Yo me quiero bañar OR Yo quiero bañarme Placed before 1 st conjugated verb. Attached to 2 nd unconjugated verb.

Other uses of the Reflexive Reflexives may be used to show emphasis. Who took it? John took it. Juan se lo llevó. Reflexives are often used impersonally, as when no specific subject is stated. For instance, “It is said…” or “They say that…” could be translated as “Se dice…”. Or, “The key was lost.” as “Se perdió la llave.” since we don’t know who lost the key. Reflexives are often used with Intransitive verbs. Intransitive verbs are verbs that cannot take a direct object, as opposed to transitive verbs that must have a direct object. For example; Transitive - John threw the ball. Threw has a direct object, ball, and thus is transitive. Intransitive - The train arrived late. Arrived has no direct object and is Intransitive. This sentence could be translated as “El tren se llegó tarde.” Note that many verbs can be either Transitive or Intransitive. Read the information on these two pages for more examples;

¡El Fin!