Reflecting

Reflexive verbs in Spanish is not a new thing. In fact, we use reflexives a lot in English. We're just not always aware when we do. We really do not have a lot of reflexive verbs in English. That's part of the reason why it can be tricky when we need to use them in Spanish.

So what are reflexive verbs?

Basically, it's a verb where the recipient of the action is receiving said action or reflecting back the action of the verb. It is much like looking into a mirror to see the person looking back and what they are currently doing. Here's an example: I wash my hair everyday.

"I wash" tells me that I am doing the action. But "my hair" tells me that the action of washing is reflecting back upon myself or in other words, I am receiving the action of "wash."

A non-reflexive use of the same verb in English would be as follows: I wash my dog everyday. Something or someone else is receiving the action of the verb "to wash." In this example, "my dog" is the recipient.

But reflexives may be used with other subjects other than myself. "My mom and dad wash their hair everyday" is a perfect example of how we use reflexive in English without using the subject "I."

Now let's switch this to Spanish. Are you familiar with llamarse? We use it to provide our names in Spanish such as "Me llamo Keith." I am reflecting the action of calling myself by reflecting the verb back to me and using my name. Some verbs in Spanish will have a -se ending which will tell you that the verb is reflexive.

All you have to do is (1) drop that -se ending, (2) move it in front of the verb, and (3) conjugate it according to the subject you use with the verb. It's as easy as 1-2-3!

When you drop that -se ending, you will need to know the conjugation for all the of the subjects that use it. Here's a table for you to familiarize:

me	myself	nos	ourselves, each other
te	yourself (familiar)	os	yourselves (familiar), each other
se	yourself (formal), himself, herself, itself	se	themselves, each other, yourselves (formal)

Now let's practice on a few examples:

I shower at 5:17 a.m.

Me ducho a las 5:17 por la mañana.

You worry about the future too much!

¡Te preocupas el futuro demasiado!

We always complain about the same things.

Siempre nos quejamos de lo mismo.

You do it! Beware! There are some tricky ones below. Use the verb in the parenthesis.

1.       I get up at 8. (levantarse)	9. After swimming, the team dry themselves off. (secarse)
2.       We are getting married in Las Vegas. (casarse)	10. My mom cleans the house once a week. (limpiarse)
3.       My sister puts on a lot of makeup. (maquillarse)	11. I am falling in love with you. (enamorarse)
4.       My dog and cat always clean themselves. (lavarse)	12. I feel sick. (sentirse)
5.       He cuts himself with a knife. (cortarse)	13. My parents never get angry. (enojarse)
6.       I brush my teeth twice a day. (cepillarse or lavarse)	14. You smile a lot in pictures. (sonreirse)
7.       I abstain from chocolate during Lent. (abstenerse)	15. The kids are getting bored. (aburrirse)
8.       We go to bed early. (acostarse)	16. Do you talk to yourself often? (hablarse)

How did you do? Find out next week when I continue with reflexive verbs. Continue the conversation below by posting your comments, answers and thoughts about reflexive verbs.

¡Hasta luego!
~Keith