Reflexive Verbs

 Reflexive verbs are used to tell that a person does something to or for him- or herself.

 They have 2 parts: 1 - a reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nos, os, se) 2 - verb form.

LAVARSE(to wash oneself) Verb Form Reflexive Pronoun

 In English, we really don’t identify with reflexive verbs. So these may seem strange to you.

 In English, a sentence using a “so called” reflexive verb might be…  Lauren brushes her hair.  Scott bathes himself.

me(to myself) te(to yourself) se(to himself) (to herself) (to itself) (to Ud. self) nos (to ourselves) os (to you all) se (to themselves) (to you all) (to each other) (to Uds. selves)

 You must remember that these are actions being done to oneself, by oneself. For example:  I wash my (my own) hair.

 I wash myself  You wash yourself  He, She, It washes himelf, etc.  We wash ourselves  They wash themselves

me lavo te lavas se lava nos lavamos os laváis se lavan

 They can always go before a conjugated verb  or after and attached to an infinitive or a present participle.

Before the verb:  Me voy a lavar el pelo. After the infinitive:  Voy a lavarme el pelo.

me cepillo te cepillas se cepilla nos cepillamos os cepilláis se cepillan

me ducho te duchas se ducha nos duchamos os ducháis se duchan

 When using reflexive verbs to talk about parts of the body, use the definite article. (the el, la, los, las that mean “the”)

 Nos lavamos el pelo.  ¿Te cepillas los dientes?