Spanish Prep

Reflexive Verbs

Reflexive pronouns (pronombres reflexivos) are used as part of reflexive verbs, which are often used when we want to talk about actions that people perform on themselves. The reflexive pronouns are as follows:

1) For yo, we use me. Ex: Siempre me baño antes de desayunar. (I always take a bath/shower before eating breakfast)

2) For tú, we use te. Ex: Me gustaría que te bañaras en el gimnasio. (I would like you to take a shower at the gym).

3) For él/ella/usted, we use se. Ex: Juan siempre se baña después de cenar. (Juan always takes a bath/shower after having dinner).

4) For ellos/ellas/ustedes, we use se. Ex: Ana y Juan se bañan en el gimnasio todos los fines de semana. (Ana and Juan take a shower at the gym every weekend).

5) For nosotros/nosotras, we use nos. Ex: Siempre nos bañamos después de hacer ejercicio. (We always take a bath/shower after we exercise).

6) For vosotros/vosotras, we use os. Ex: ¿Os bañáis todos los días? (Do you take a bath/shower every day?)

As you can see from the examples above, a reflexive verb such as bañarse (to take a bath/shower) can be regular, and if that is the case, you conjugate the verb the same way you would conjugate other regular verbs (see the Regular verbs page), and then you add the reflexive pronoun before the verb as we did above. But please note that we can also add the reflexive pronoun at the end of the verb, and when we do this, the verb will usually (but not always) be in the infinitive form. For example:

1) Voy a bañarme después de comer. (I am going to take a bath/shower after I eat).
2) ¿Vas a bañarte cuando termines la tarea? (Are you going to take a bath/shower when you finish your homework?

For regular verbs, when we give affirmative commands using reflexive pronouns, we also place the pronoun at the end of the verb after we have conjugated it (see the imperative tense in the Regular verbs page). Please note that when the affirmative command is for "nosotros", you still write the reflexive pronoun at the end, but you get rid of the "s" first, and when the affirmative command is for "vosotros", you get rid of the "d" first. For example:

1) Báñate en el gimnasio porque nos cortaron el agua. (Take a shower at the gym because our water was turned off).
2) Bañémonos después de terminar la tarea. (Let's take a shower after finishing the homework)
3) Bañaos antes de cenar. (Take a shower/bath before dinner)

Before continuing, I'd like to point out that in countries like Mexico, the verb bañar is used to indicate that one is taking a bath or a shower, whereas in countries like Spain, the verb duchar is used to indicate when one is taking a shower, and the verb bañar is used to indicate when one is taking a bath.

There is something to be aware of as far as the imperative tense is concerned. When we give a command, and we are using verbs that can be reflexive or non-reflexive, the command can be such that you tell people to do something in general (non-reflexive), or it can be such that you tell people to do something that involves them (reflexive). For example, the regular verb lavar is non-reflexive, as you already saw when we used it as an example on the Regular verbs page; but we can make it reflexive: lavarse. For a verb like this, we can give commands as follows:

For lavar (non-reflexive) (example of commands for tú)
Lava los platos. (Wash the dishes).
No laves los platos. (Don't wash the dishes)

For lavarse (reflexive) (example of commands for tú)
Lávate las manos. (Wash your hands).
No te laves las manos. (Don't wash your hands)

The irregular verb 'ir' (to go, non-reflexive) can become reflexive: irse (to go away). Please note that the conjugation of irregular verbs such as the verb 'ir', must be memorized. Yes, there are certain similarities and patterns we can use for irregular verbs, as we saw on the irregular verbs page, but they really should be memorized.

When we conjugate the verb 'ir' in the present (indicative) tense, we have:

1) yo voy
2) tú vas
3) él/ella/usted va
4) nosotros/nosotras vamos
5) ellos/ellas/ustedes van
6) vosotros/vosotras vais

And if we conjugate 'irse' in the present (indicative) tense, we have:

1) yo me voy
2) tú te vas
3) él/ella/usted se va
4) nosotros/nosotras nos vamos
5) ellos/ellas/ustedes se van
6) vosotros/vosotras os vais

Examples:

Non-reflexive:
1) Voy a estudiar Medicina para poder ser pediatra. (I am going to study Medicine so I can be a pediatrician)
2) ¿Vas a ir a la fiesta? (Are you going to the party?)

Reflexive:
1) ¿Te vas a casar en junio? (Are you getting married in June?)
2) Me voy de viaje la semana que viene. (I am going on a trip next week)

And when we conjugate the verb 'ir' (non-reflexive) in the imperative tense (affirmative/negativecommands), we have:

1) ve / no vayas (for tú)
2) vaya / no vaya (for usted)
3) vayan / no vayan (for ustedes)
4) vamos / no vayamos (for nosotros)

Recall that when we use the verb 'ir' as reflexive, it becomes 'irse'; the imperative tense (affirmative/negative commands) for irse would be:

1) vete / no te vayas (for tú)
2) váyase / no se vaya (for usted)
3) váyanse / no se vayan (for ustedes)
4) vámonos / no nos vayamos (for nosotros)

Examples:

Non-reflexive:
- Carlos, ve a la tienda y compra jugo de naranja. (Carlos, go to the store and buy orange juice)
- Ana, no vayas a reprobar la clase de Español. (Ana, don't flunk the Spanish class)
- Señora Smith, por favor vaya a la tienda y compre jugo de naranja. (Mrs. Smith, please go to the store and buy orange juice)
- Señor Jones, no vaya a reprobar la clase de Español. (Mr. Jones, don't flunk the Spanish class)
- Muchachos, vayan a la tienda y compren jugo de naranja. (Guys, go to the store and buy orange juice)
- Chicas, no vayan a reprobar la clase de Español. (Girls, don't flunk the Spanish class)
- Vamos a la tienda y compremos jugo de naranja. (Let's go to the store and buy orange juice)
- No vayamos a reprobar la clase de Español. (Let's not flunk the Spanish class)

Reflexive:
- Ana, ya vete a dormir. (Ana, go to bed now)
- Juan, no te vayas por favor. (Juan, please don't leave)
- Señora Smith, ya váyase a dormir. (Mrs. Smith, go to bed now)
- Señor Jones, no se vaya por favor. (Mr. Jones, please don't leave)
- Chicos, ya váyanse a dormir. (Guys, go to bed now)
- Chicas, no se vayan por favor. (Girls, please don't leave).
- Ya vámonos a dormir. (Let's go to bed now)
- No nos vayamos a perder. (Let's not get lost).


Here are the most common reflexive verbs:
- cepillarse (to brush). Ex: Me cepillo los dientes todos los días. (I brush my teeth every day)
- lavarse (to wash). Ex: Me lavo la cara todas las noches. (I wash my face every night)
- ponerse (to put on). Ex: Ana nunca se pone los lentes. (Ana never wears her glasses)
- irse (to go away, to leave). Ex: Juan va a irse de viaje. (Juan is going to go on a trip)
- levantarse (to get up). Ex: Gilda se levanta muy temprano. (Gilda wakes up very early)
- quedarse (to stay). Ex: Cuando voy a México siempre me quedo en casa de mi mamá. (When I go to Mexico, I always stay at my mom's house)
- acordarse (to remember). Ex: ¿Te acuerdas de mi tía? (Do you remember my aunt?)
- ducharse (to take a shower). Ex: Juan se ducha por las noches. (Juan takes a shower at night)
- despertarse (to wake up). Ex: Siempre me despierto a las 6 de la mañana. (I always wake up at 6 am)
- acostarse (to go to bed). Ex: Ana se acuesta muy tarde. (Ana goes to bed very late).
- sentarse (to sit down). Ex: Me siento en el jardín cuando no hace frío. (I sit down in the garden/yard when it's not cold)
- dormirse (to fall asleep). Ex: Siempre me duermo en la sala. (I always fall asleep in the living room)
- vestirse (to get dressed). Ex: Cuando tengo prisa, me visto en cinco minutos. (When I am in a hurry, I get dressed in five minutes)
- afeitarse (to shave). Ex: Juan se afeita todos los días. (Juan shaves every day)
- peinarse (to comb hair). Ex: Sólamente me peino si traigo el cabello seco. (I only comb my hair if it is dry)
- maquillarse (to put makeup on). Ex: Ana se maquilla antes de ir a trabajar. (Ana puts makeup on before going to work)
- encontrarse (to be found/located). Ex: La biblioteca se encuentra en el segundo piso. (The library is located on the second floor)
- alegrarse (to be glad). Ex: Me alegro de que estés a punto de graduarte. (I am glad you are about to graduate)