Posts tagged with "reflexive verbs"

Spanish Lesson Beginner 22 Reflexive Spanish verbs

Posted by Laura No Comments
Sep 14 2011
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¡Hola a todos!

Today, we are going to see some useful Spanish verbs that are reflexive. With Reflexive Spanish Verbs the action is done by the same person who receives the action. For example, you can shower your baby, or you can shower yourself. To shower your baby is not reflexive because the person who does the action is you and the person who receives it is the baby. However, if you shower yourself, that action is reflexive, because you are the person who does the action of showering and also the person who receives the shower.

Let´s see now some other reflexive Spanish verbs:

• Despertarse: To wake up
• Levantarse: To get up
• Ducharse: To have a shower
• Lavarse: To wash yourself
• Lavarse el pelo/los dientes … : To wash your hair/teeth …
• Vestirse: To get dressed
• Peinarse: To comb your hair
• Ponerse: To put something on
• Quitarse: To take something off
• Acostarse: To go to bed

As you see, all the reflexive verbs in their original form finish in –se (despertarSE, levantarSE, ducharSE, lavarSE, vestirSE…). To use them in the present tense, you need to look at the two letters before that –SE, which will be -AR, -ER and –IR. The ending for each person will be the same as that with the regular verbs we have already learned.

In the present tense Levantarse (to get up), for example, is be: yo levanto, tu levantas, el/ella/usted levanta etc… because it is an –AR ending verb. To make this verb reflexive you need to add a reflexive pronoun before the verb which is different for each person.

Let´s see how to conjugate the reflexive verb Levantarse for all persons:

• (Yo) me levanto: I get up
• (Tú) te levantas: You get up (friendly)
• (Usted) se levanta: You get up (formal)
• (Él/ella) se levanta: He/she gets up
• (Nosotros/as) nos levantamos: We get up
• (Vosotros/as) os levantáis: You get up (group/friendly)
• (Ustedes) se levantan: You get up (group/formal)
• (Ellos/as) se levantan: They get up

We will see now some examples of questions and answers with reflexive Spanish verbs:

• ¿Cuándo te duchas?: When do you shower? (informal)
• ¿Cuándo se ducha?: When do you shower? (formal)
• Me ducho por la mañana: I shower in the morning

• ¿Cuándo os ducháis?: When do you shower? (group/informal)
• ¿Cuándo se duchan?: When do you shower? (group/formal)
• Nos duchamos por la mañana: We shower in the morning

• ¿Cuándo se ducha Antonio?: When does Antonio shower?
• Antonio se ducha por la mañana: Antonio showers in the morning

• ¿Cuándo se duchan Antonio y Carmen?: When do Antonio and Carmen shower?
• Antonio y Carmen se duchan por la mañana: Antonio and Carmen shower in the morning

• ¿A qué hora te acuestas ?: At what time do you go to bed? (informal)
• ¿A qué hora se acuesta ? At what time do you go to bed? (formal)
• Me acuesto a las once de la noche: I go to bed at eleven at night

• ¿A qué hora os acostáis? At what time do you go to bed? (group/informal)
• ¿A qué hora se acuestan? At what time do you go to bed? (group/formal)
• Nos acostamos a las once de la noche: We go to bed at eleven at night

• ¿A qué hora se acuesta Antonio?: At what time does Antonio go to bed?
• Antonio se acuesta a las once de la noche: Antonio goes to bed at eleven at night

• ¿A qué hora se acuestan Antonio y Carmen? At what time do Antonio and Carmen go to bed?
• Antonio y Carmen se acuestan a las once de la noche: Antonio and Carmen go to bed at eleven at night

This is all for today. I hope you have understood what a reflexive verb is and how it works. Getting your head around reflexive Spanish verbs can be a little tricky at first, but they are of fundamental importance and it is best to get stuck straight into learning and practicing with them. Try making questions and answers like the examples I have given to memorise the verbs and the reflexive pronouns and try to hunt out any possible opportunity to speak with or listen to native Spanish speakers. By the way, to know if a verb is reflexive you just look for it in the dictionary and if it finishes in –SE it is reflexive.

Have a wonderful week and see you next time with more Spanish.

¡Hasta luego!

The meanings of hacerse

Posted by Adir No Comments
Jan 10 2011

Hacerse is a reflexive verb and it has several meanings. Instead of providing a boring list I’m going to give you some real Spanish sentences with their translation, ok? Aprovéchala.

Se me hizo un nudo en el hilo. – I got a knot in the thread.
María se hizo con el premio. – María got the prize.
No te hagas el tonto. – Don’t play dumb.
Se hace dos veces el camino toda semana. – He makes that journey twice a week.
No me hago a vivir solo. – I’m not used to living alone.
Juan se hizo al frío. – Juan got used to the cold.
Me hace un plato de gambas. – I feel like eating a plate of shrimps.
Este sofá se hace cama. – This couch becomes a bed.
El ciclista se hizo a un lado para que pasaran los coches. – The cyclist moved to the side so that cars would drive by.
Me hice un tajo en el dedo. - I cut my finger.
Me hice daño. – I hurt myself.
Él se hizo un nombre en la medicina. – He made a name for himself in Medicine.
No me hago enemigos. – I don’t make enemies.
Se hizo famoso cantando boleros. – He became famous by singing boleros.
Me estoy haciendo viejo. – I’m getting old.
Se hace de noche muy pronto. – It’s getting dark very early.
Se nos hizo de noche esperándola. – It got dark waiting for her.
Eso se me hace muy pesado. - This is very boring for me.
¿Qué se habrá hecho Juan? - I wonder what’s become of Juan.
Se me hace que todavía estás enojado conmigo. - I get the impression you’re still mad at me.
Él es un chico que se hace querer. – He’s a likable kid.
Hazte ver por un médico. – Get a doctor to see you.
Yo me hice el tonto. – I pretended not to see that.
Lograron hacerse con el control de la compañía. – They managed to take over the company.

Eso es todo por hoy. Nos vemos prontito.

Reflexive Verbs: different meanings

Posted by Adir No Comments
Dec 13 2010

Hola, how’s it going?

There are some verbs in Spanish that change their meanings when used in the reflexive form. Check them out!

acordar - to agree. Acordaron de encontrarse a las dos en la casa de María. (They agreedo to meet at two at María’s house.)
acordarse - to rember. Seguro que te acuerdas de cuando fuimos a Italia. (I’m sure you remember when we went to Italy).

dormir - to sleep. El nene está durmiendo. (The baby is sleeping.)
dormirse - to fall asleep. Se durmió mientras veía la película. (He fell asleep while he was watching the movie.)

matar - to kill. Los traficantes mataron a diez personas en el tiroteo. (The drug dealers killed ten people during the shooting.)
matarse - to kill oneself, commit suicide. Cuando se percató que Jorge ya estaba con otra, se mató. (When she realized that Jorge was with another woman, she killed herself.)

abrazar - to hug someone; to support/embrace a cause. Abracé a mi hijo con mucho amor. (I hugged my son with a lot of love.) Abrazó la causa ecológica. (She embraced the ecological cause)
abrazarse - to hug each other. Echaron a llorar y se abrazaron. (They burst into tears and hugged each other.)

peinar - to comb (someone). Peinó a su hijita. (She combed her little daughter.)
peinarse - to comb oneself. Se peinó mientras escuchaba la música. (She combed herself while she was listening to music.)

pintar - to paint. Quiero saber quién pintó tu casa. (I want to know who painted your house.)
pintarse - to put on makeup. Las muchachas se estaban pintando para la fiesta. (The girls were putting on makeup for the party.)

acostumbrar - to be in the habit of, to usually do something. Acostumbra a dormir la siesta. (He usually takes a nap.)
acostumbrarse - to get used to. Me acostumbré a despertarme temprano. (I got used to getting up early.)

valer - to be worth. No sé cuánto vale eso. (I don’t know what this is worth.)
valerse - to resort to, to use. Se valió de sus amistades para conseguir un empleo. (She used her friendships to get a job.)

cambiar - to change. El mundo ha cambiado. (The world has changed.)
cambiarse - to change clothes. Espera que me cambie entonces salimos. (Wait for me to change so we can go out.)

parecer - to seem, to look like. Parece que va a llover. (It looks like rain.)
parecerse - to look like (physically). Se parece a su padre. (He looks like his father.)

Esto es todo por hoy, nos vemos prontito.

Getting into trouble? Te la vas a cargar.

Posted by Adir 2 Comments
Dec 19 2008

There are a number of verbal expressions in Spanish that involve a reflexive verb and the pronouns -la or -las. Check them out.

1. apañárselas, arreglárselas – to manage, to get by. No te preocupes, me las apañaré. (Don’t worry, I´ll manage.). Jorge vive solo y se las arregla bien en la cocina. (Jorge lives alone and gets by well in the kitchen.)

2. cargársela – to be punished. Luis se la cargó sin haber hecho nada. (Luis was punished without having done anything.)

3. dárselas de (adjective) – to brag about. Antonio se las da de listo, pero en realidad es muy lento. (Antonio brags about being smart, but he’s actually quite thick.)

4. echárselas de – to pretend to be, to make a show of being. Se las echa de héroe. (He’s playing the hero.)

5. habérselas con uno – to deal with, to face somebody. Se las tendrá que haber con el director. (He’ll have to face the principal.)

6. pegársela – to have an accident. En esta curva me la pegué hace un año con el coche. (I had a car accident in this curve a year ago.); to deceive someone. Somos tan ingenuos que nos la pegan cada dos por tres. (We are so naive that we’re often taken advantage of.)

7. pirárselas – to go away. Mañana, en cuanto salgamos de trabajar, agarramos el coche y nos (las) piramos  de vacaciones. (Tomorrow after work, we take the car and go away on vacation.)

8. sabérselas todas – to be a know-all. Él se las sabe todas. (He’s a know-it all.)

9. traérselas – to be very difficult. El examen se las trae. (The test is very difficult.)

10. vérselas con uno – to own up, to explain one’s actions to somebody else. El niño tendrá que vérselas con su papá. (The kid will have to explain himself to his dad.)

Nos vemos prontito!

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