Transcript SE - Mr-Miller.com

Unit Two
Reflexive verbs
• In Spanish, whenever you perform an action on yourself
instead of on someone else you should make the verb
reflexive.
• Examples; We get dressed.
(Reflexive - We dress ourselves.)
John takes a bath.
(Reflexive - He bathes himself.)
She washes the dishes.
(Not reflexive – She didn’t wash herself she washed the dishes)
To make a verb reflexive you need to use a reflexive
pronoun. The reflexive pronouns are;
Reflexive
pronoun
English translation
Use with this
subject
ME myself
I
TE yourself inf.
You inf.
SE himself, herself,
yourself for., (itself)
NOS ourselves
He, She,
You for., (it)
We
OS yourselves inf. pl.
You inf. pl.
SE themselves,
yourselves for. pl.
They,
You for. pl.
It’s easy to tell when a verb is reflexive by
looking at the verb in a dictionary. You’ll notice
that the reflexive pronoun se is attached to the
end of the verb. Unconjugated reflexive verbs
are always written this way.
For example; bañarse – to take a bath
Base verb
Reflexive Pronoun
To conjugate a reflexive verb, first remove the reflexive
pronoun se from the end of the verb and place it upfront.
Next, change se to match the subject. (Refer to the
previous chart if you’ve forgotten the pronouns) Finally,
conjugate the verb as you usually would. For example;
Se
Bañarse
Bañar
Me
baño
ITo
take
a bath
bathe
1. Move se
upfront.
2. Now change se to
match the subject –
in this case Yo – and
conjugate the verb.
ER and IR verbs work the same way as AR verbs do.
For example;
Se
Ponerse
NosPoner
ponemos
We
puton
on
To put
1. Move se
upfront
2. Now change se to
match the subject and
conjugate the verb.
Here’s an example for each verb type.
Subject
Casarse
to get married
Atreverse
to dare
Aburrirse
to get bored
Yo
Me caso
I get married
Me atrevo
I dare
Me aburro
I get bored
Tú
Te casas
You (inf) get married
Te atreves
You (inf) dare
Te aburres
You (inf) get bored
Él, Ella,
Usted
Se casa
He/She gets married
You (for) get married
Se atreve
He/She dares
You (for) dare
Se aburre
He/She gets bored
You (for) get bored
Nosotros
Nos casamos
We get married
Nos atrevemos
We dare
Nos aburrimos
We get bored
Vosotros
Os casáis
You (inf pl) get married
Os atrevéis
You (inf pl) dare
Os aburrís
You (inf pl) get bored
Ellos, Ellas,
Ustedes
Se casan
They get married
You (for pl) get married
Se atreven
They dare
You (for pl) dare
Se aburren
They get bored
You (for pl) get bored
Now you try it! On a piece of paper, or in
your head, translate the following and then
click for the correct answer.
He is shaving. (Afeitarse)
Él se afeita.
I comb my hair. (Peinarse)
Yo me peino.
We take a bath. (Bañarse)
Nosotros nos bañamos.
You (inf) put on the hat. (Ponerse el sombrero)
Tú te pones el sombrero.
Details
• Almost any verb can be made reflexive. For example;
lavar = to wash, lavarse = to wash yourself
• Some verbs change meaning when used reflexively. For example;
Dormir = to sleep, dormirse = to fall asleep
Ir = to go, irse = to go away (to leave)
• When a reflexive verb is combined with another verb, you may either
attach the pronoun to the end of the second verb, or you may place it before
the first verb. Both ways are correct, but many Spanish speakers prefer to
attach the pronoun. For example;
I want to take a bath. =
Yo me quiero bañar OR Yo quiero bañarme
Placed before 1st
conjugated verb.
Placed after 2nd
unconjugated verb.
¡El Fin!