English-Spanish Helpful Handouts – For English Speakers Who Want To Learn Spanish
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Spanish Reflexive Verbs and Daily Routines Reflexive constructions consist of a reflexive pronoun and a verb. An example is: Me despierto. (I wake up). In English, reflexive pronouns end in -self or -selves; for example, myself, yourself, ourselves, etc. In Spanish, the reflexive pronouns are: me, te, se, nos, os, se. A Spanish reflexive verb in the infinitive has se attached to the end of it, such as, despertarse.
Me despierto a las ocho. (I wake up at 8:00.)
To conjugate a reflexive verb, use the reflexive pronoun that corresponds with both the subject and the verb form. It goes in front of the verb: (Yo) me despierto a las ocho. Me despierto a las ocho. Te despiertas a las ocho. Se despierta a las ocho. Nos despertamos a las ocho. Os despertáis a las ocho. Se despiertan a las ocho.
I wake up at 8:00. You (familiar) wake up at 8:00. You (formal) wake up at 8:00. He/She wakes up at 8:00. We wake up at 8:00. You (familiar, plural) wake up at 8:00. You (formal, plural) wake up at 8:00. They wake up at 8:00.
In a sentence with a reflexive construction, the subject not only performs the action, but also receives the action. Look at this example of the use of the reflexive verb cortarse.
Ayer, me corté. (Yesterday, I cut myself.) The subject did the cutting, that is, the subject performed the action. Also, the subject got cut, that is, the subject received the action. One way that reflexive verbs are used is with daily personal routines. You will find a list of reflexives verbs on page 2.
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