1. Lesson 5 Usage Idioms with reflexive verbs

2. Sometimes, we want to direct the responsibility for an action away from ourselves. The dish broke. Reality: I broke the dish. My pants ripped. Reality: I ripped my pants. The money disappeared. Reality: I lost the money. The car ran out of gas. Reality: I used all of the gas.

3. To do this in Spanish, we use the reflexive construction. Se me olvidó mi cartera. The wallet forgot itself to me. Its not my fault; the wallet did it. Se le perdieron las llaves. The keys lost themselves to him. Its not his fault; the keys did it. El trabajo se me hace difícil. Work makes itself difficult to me. Im not lazy; work is hard.

4. Making the idiomatic construction. The subject (doer) and the object (receiver) change functions and the verb becomes reflexive (Yo) perdí todo el dinero en el casino. I lost the money in the casino. Se me perdió el dinero en el casino. The money lost itself from me in the casino.