2A. Los Apuntes: Reflexive Verbs Textbook p. 80
Reflexive Verbs
What is a reflexive verb? A reflexive verb is an action that people do ______or ______themselves. With a reflexive verb, the person carrying out the action also ______the action. For example: washing one’s face or brushing one’s teeth.
What does a reflexive verb look like? In Spanish, reflexive verbs are easy to identify because their infinitive forms have ______at the end. This se at the end of the infinitive is called a ______. Let’s look at the breakdown of the verbs afeitarse, to shave, and bañarse, to bathe.
afeit ar se bañ ar se ______
How do you conjugate a reflexive verb? When conjugating a reflexive verb, first ______the reflexive pronoun from the end. Conjugate the verb like normal: drop the infinitive ending, then add the new present-tense ending that matches the subject. The reflexive pronoun is also changed to match the subject, then placed in front of the conjugated verb.
Reflexive pronouns When placing the new reflexive pronoun ______, you must choose the correct pronoun that matches the subject. Remember, the subject is also the person or people who ______the action of the verb. The reflexive pronouns are as follows:
¡Practiquemos! Complete the sentences by writing the correct reflexive pronoun and conjugation of the verb in parenthesis. Be on the lookout for stem changers! Follow the model.
Modelo: Paco siempre __se__ __afieta__ los domingos.
1. Gregorio y Lorenzo ______muy tarde los fines de semana. (levantarse) 2. Yo ______en ropa muy elegante para ir a la boda. (vestirse) 3. Emilia y yo ______las uñas para el baile. (pintarse) 4. Uds. ______muy temprano la noche antes del evento especial. (acostarse) 5. Tú ______rápidamente antes de la escuela. (ducharse) 6. Sancho no ______los dientes todos los días. ¡Uf! (cepillarse)
A quick note… Look back at numbers 3 and 6 above. We would translate these as “Emily and I paint our nails for the dance” and “Sancho doesn’t brush his teeth every day.” However, note that the possessive pronouns for our and his or not used. Instead, we use ______. A general rule to remember is that when a reflexive verb is used with parts of the body or clothing, definite articles are used, not possessive pronouns.
Me lavo la cara. I wash my face. Te pones los zapatos. You put on your shoes.
Placement of reflexive pronouns So far, we have only discussed placing the reflexive pronoun before the conjugated verb. However, when two verbs used together in a sentence, there is another option. Recall that when two verbs are used in conjunction, the first one is ______and the second one is left in the ______form. The two options we have for placement of the reflexive pronoun are:
1. ______
2. ______
Me tengo que levantar. -or- Tengo que levantarme. Carolina se va a secar el pelo. -or- Carolina va a secarse el pelo.
There is no change in meaning; these pairs of sentences express the same ideas. Notice that regardless of the placement of the pronoun, it still has to match the subject of the sentence.
¡Practiquemos! ¡Uy! The following sentences are missing their reflexive pronouns! Rewrite each sentence twice, demonstrating two different placements of the pronoun. Follow the model.
Modelo: Carmela va a poner el cinturón. 1. __Carmela se va a poner el cinturón.______2. __Carmela va a ponerse el cinturón.______
1. Rafael debe duchar. 1. ______2. ______
2. Yo quiero cortar el pelo. 1. ______2. ______
3. Nosotros vamos a pintar las 1. ______uñas. 2. ______
4. Uds. necesitan bañar. 1. ______2. ______
5. Tú tienes que arreglar el 1. ______pelo. 2. ______
¡Practiquemos! Each of the sentences below has an error. Circle the error, then correctly rewrite the portion of the sentence that needs the change.
1. Yo despertarme a las ocho de la mañana.
2. Ellas se pintan sus uñas cada semana.
3. Nosotros se acostamos muy tarde durante el verano.
4. Ud. va a afeitar mañana.
5. Tú tienes que cortarse el pelo pronto.
Reflexive Verbs
What is a reflexive verb? A reflexive verb is an action that people do ___to____ or __for_____ themselves. With a reflexive verb, the person carrying out the action also ___receives______the action. For example: washing one’s face or brushing one’s teeth.
What does a reflexive verb look like? In Spanish, reflexive verbs are easy to identify because their infinitive forms have __se___ at the end. This se at the end of the infinitive is called a __reflexive pronoun_____. Let’s look at the breakdown of the verbs afeitarse, to shave, and bañarse, to bathe.
afeit ar se bañ ar se __stem______infinitive___ _reflexive______stem______infinitive___ _reflexive____ _ending______pronoun______ending______pronoun_____
How do you conjugate a reflexive verb? When conjugating a reflexive verb, first __drop______the reflexive pronoun from the end. Conjugate the verb like normal: drop the infinitive ending, then add the new present-tense ending that matches the subject. The reflexive pronoun is also changed to match the subject, then placed in front of the conjugated verb.
Reflexive pronouns When placing the new reflexive pronoun _before the verb______, you must choose the correct pronoun that matches the subject. Remember, the subject is also the person or people who __receive(s)______the action of the verb. The reflexive pronouns are as follows:
me nos te se se
¡Practiquemos! Complete the sentences by writing the correct reflexive pronoun and conjugation of the verb in parenthesis. Be on the lookout for stem changers! Follow the model.
Modelo: Paco siempre __se__ __afieta__ los domingos.
1. Gregorio y Lorenzo ___se______levantan_____ muy tarde los fines de semana. (levantarse) 2. Yo ___me______visto______en ropa muy elegante para ir a la boda. (vestirse) 3. Emilia y yo __nos______pintamos______las unas para el baile. (pintarse) 4. Uds. ____se______acuestan______muy temprano la noche antes del evento especial. (acostarse) 5. Tú ____te______duchas______rápidamente antes de la escuela. (ducharse) 6. Sancho no ___se______cepilla______los dientes todos los días. ¡Uf! (cepillarse)
A quick note… Look back at numbers 3 and 6 above. We would translate these as “Emily and I paint our nails for the dance” and “Sancho doesn’t brush his teeth every day.” However, note that the possessive pronouns for our and his or not used. Instead, we use __definite articles______. A general rule to remember is that when a reflexive verb is used with parts of the body or clothing, definite articles are used, not possessive pronouns.
Me lavo la cara. I wash my face. Te pones los zapatos. You put on your shoes.
Placement of reflexive pronouns So far, we have only discussed placing the reflexive pronoun before the conjugated verb. However, when two verbs used together in a sentence, there is another option. Recall that when two verbs are used in conjunction, the first one is __conjugated______and the second one is left in the __infinitive______form. The two options we have for placement of the reflexive pronoun are:
1. _before the conjugated verb______
2. _attached to the end of the verb infinitive ______
Me tengo que levantar. -or- Tengo que levantarme. Carolina se va a secar el pelo. -or- Carolina va a secarse el pelo.
There is no change in meaning; these pairs of sentences express the same ideas. Notice that regardless of the placement of the pronoun, it still has to match the subject of the sentence.
¡Practiquemos! ¡Uy! The following sentences are missing their reflexive pronouns! Rewrite each sentence twice, demonstrating two different placements of the pronoun. Follow the model.
Modelo: Carmela va a poner el cinturón. 1. __Carmela se va a poner el cinturón.______2. __Carmela va a ponerse el cinturón.______
1. Rafael debe duchar. 1. _Rafael se debe duchar. ______2. _Rafael debe ducharse.______
2. Yo quiero cortar el pelo. 1. _Yo me quiero cortar el pelo. ______2. _Yo quiero cortarme el pelo.______
3. Nosotros vamos a pintar las 1. _Nosotros nos vamos a pintar las uñas. ______uñas. 2. _Nosotros vamos a pintarnos las uñas. ______
4. Uds. necesitan bañar. 1. _Uds. se necesitan bañar. ______2. _Uds. necesitan bañarse. ______
5. Tú tienes que arreglar el 1. _Tú te tienes que arreglar el pelo. ______pelo. 2. _Tú tienes que arreglarte el pelo.______
¡Practiquemos! Each of the sentences below has an error. Circle the error, then correctly rewrite the portion of the sentence that needs the change.
1. Yo despertarme a las ocho de la mañana. me despierto 2. Ellas se pintan sus uñas cada semana. las 3. Nosotros se acostamos muy tarde durante el verano. nos 4. Ud. va a afeitar mañana. se va a afeitar / va a afeitarse 5. Tú tienes que cortarse el pelo pronto. te