Spanish Reflexive Verbs and the Many Uses of Se

Reflexive verbs: when the action comes back to you

English often drops “myself”; Spanish never drops me. Many everyday verbs are reflexive in Spanish but not in English.

Short answer: a reflexive verb has se on its dictionary form (levantarse, to get up). Conjugate it with me, te, se, nos, os, se before the verb: me levanto. Like object pronouns, it attaches to infinitives and positive commands: ¡Levántate!

The forms: llamarse

A daily routine in reflexive verbs

Most of the morning happens in reflexive verbs. Every word has its English meaning underneath.

7:00

Memyselfdespierto.(I) wake
meh des-PYER-toh “I wake up.”
despertarse: The stressed e of the stem becomes ie: despierto.
7:10

Memyselflevanto.(I) raise
meh leh-BAN-toh “I get up.”
levantarse: Levantar is “to lift”; lifting yourself is getting up.
7:20

Memyselfducho.(I) shower
meh DOO-choh “I have a shower.”
ducharse: A regular -ar verb. Without me it would mean showering someone else.
7:40

Memyselfvisto(I) dressrápido.quickly
meh BEES-toh RRAH-pee-doh “I get dressed quickly.”
vestirse: The stem e becomes i: visto.
23:00

Memyselfacuesto(I) lay-downtarde.late
meh ah-KWES-toh TAR-deh “I go to bed late.”
acostarse: The stem o becomes ue: acuesto.
23:15

Memyselfduermo(I) sleepenseguida.straight-away
meh DWER-moh en-seh-GEE-dah “I fall asleep straight away.”
dormirse: Dormir is to sleep; dormirse is to fall asleep. Se marks the change of state.

Verbs that change meaning with se

Adding se to some verbs does more than point the action back at yourself: it makes a new verb with its own meaning. Learn these as separate words.

ir · to go

Voy(I) goatoMadrid.Madrid

boy ah mah-DREED“I’m going to Madrid.”

irse · to leave

Memyselfvoy.(I) go

meh BOY“I’m leaving.”

dormir · to sleep

Duermo(I) sleepochoeighthoras.hours

DWER-moh OH-choh OH-rahs“I sleep eight hours.”

dormirse · to fall asleep

Memyselfdormí(I) slepteninelthecine.cinema

meh dor-MEE en el THEE-neh“I fell asleep in the cinema.”

llamar · to call

Llamo(I) calla(to)mimymadre.mother

YAH-moh ah mee MAH-dreh“I’m calling my mother.”

llamarse · to be called

Memyselfllamo(I) callAna.Ana

meh YAH-moh AH-nah“My name is Ana.”

poner · to put

Pongo(I) putlathemesa.table

PON-goh lah MEH-sah“I’m laying the table.”

ponerse · to put on

Memyselfpongo(I) puteltheabrigo.coat

meh PON-goh el ah-BREE-goh“I’m putting on my coat.”

quedar · to arrange to meet

Quedamos(we) arrangeaatlastheocho.eight

keh-DAH-mohs ah lahs OH-choh“Let’s meet at eight.”

quedarse · to stay

Memyselfquedo(I) stayenatcasa.home

meh KEH-doh en KAH-sah“I’m staying at home.”

llevar · to carry, to wear

Llevo(I) weargafas.glasses

YEH-boh GAH-fahs“I wear glasses.”

llevarse · to get on (with)

Memyselfllevo(I) carrybienwellconwithél.him

meh YEH-boh byen kon el“I get on well with him.”

parecer · to seem

Parece(it) seemsfácil.easy

pah-REH-theh FAH-theel“It seems easy.”

parecerse a · to look like

Sehimselfpareceseemsatosuhispadre.father

seh pah-REH-theh ah soo PAH-dreh“He looks like his father.”

Where me, te, se go

The pronoun goes before a conjugated verb (one with a person ending, like voy). It can instead be attached to the end of an infinitive (the dictionary form, duchar) or a gerund (the -ando / -iendo form, duchando), and it must be attached to a positive command. When it is attached, a written accent often appears to keep the stress where it was. The same rule applies to object pronouns and commands.

With infinitives and gerunds you choose; with commands you don’t. A positive command always attaches the pronoun, a negative one always puts it before the verb.

Voy(I) goatoducharme.shower-myself

boy ah doo-CHAR-meh“I’m going to have a shower.”Why: The same as Me voy a duchar. Both orders are correct.

Estoy(I) amduchándome.showering-myself

es-TOY doo-CHAN-doh-meh“I’m having a shower.”Why: With me attached, an accent keeps the stress on -chan-.

¡Levántate!get-yourself-up

leh-BAN-tah-teh“Get up!”Why: A positive command always attaches the pronoun.

¡Nonotteyourselflevantes!get-up (subj.)

noh teh leh-BAN-tes“Don’t get up!”Why: A negative command puts the pronoun first and uses the subjunctive form, levantes.

Body and clothes: las manos, not mis manos

With a reflexive verb, the pronoun already says whose body or clothes are meant. So Spanish uses el, la, los, las (the) where English uses “my”, “your” or “her”.

Memyselflavo(I) washlasthemanos.hands

meh LAH-boh lahs MAH-nohs“I wash my hands.”

Why: Me already shows whose hands, so las, not mis.

Seherselfcepillabrusheslosthedientes.teeth

seh theh-PEE-yah los DYEN-tes“She brushes her teeth.”

Why: Se points to her; los dientes needs no su.

Ponteput-yourselflathechaqueta.jacket

PON-teh lah chah-KEH-tah“Put your jacket on.”

Why: Clothes work the same way. Ponte is the command of ponerse, with te attached.

Other jobs of se

Each other In the plural, se, nos and os can mean “each other”.

Noseach-othervemos(we) seemañana.tomorrow

nohs BEH-mohs mah-NYAH-nah“See you tomorrow.”

Seeach-otherquieren(they) lovemucho.a-lot

seh KYEH-ren MOO-choh“They love each other very much.”

Accidents se + an indirect pronoun for things that “happen to you”: the object becomes the subject, so nobody is to blame.

Se(itself)meon-meolvidó.forgot

seh meh ol-bee-DOH“I forgot (it slipped my mind).”

Se(itself)leon-himcayófellelthevaso.glass

seh leh kah-YOH el BAH-soh“He dropped the glass.”

Impersonal se for general statements about what “one” or “people” do.

Se(one)hablaspeaksespañol.Spanish

seh AH-blah es-pah-NYOL“Spanish is spoken here.”

¿Cómohowse(one)dice…?says

KOH-moh seh DEE-theh“How do you say…?”