PSG 7 - Grammar IIa - Spanish Reflexive Verbs & Reflexive Pronouns

Practical Spanish Grammar - pg 119

What is a reflexive verb? I honestly had no idea before beginning to learn Spanish. The object of a reflexive verb is the same person or thing as the subject. We have them in English but I don’t think they are ever called out as such, we just use them ‘reflexively’.

Robert sees himself. - this is reflexive - Roberto se ve.

Robert sees her. - this is not reflexive - Roberto la ve.

In English the reflexive is many times used only for emphasis. For example you could say, Did you wash? or Did you wash yourself? but in Spanish the reflexive verb lavarse is required, Te lavaste?

In English the reflexive pronoun always follows the verb and is formed by adding -self and -selves. But in Spanish, just like direct and indirect object pronouns, reflexive pronouns can only precede a conjugated verb but they can be attached to the end of an infinitive.

Yo me voy a lavar. (I am going to wash myself.)

Yo voy a lavarme. (I am going to wash myself.)

Se is the reflexive pronoun for all third-person subjects, both singular and plural. Only context can differentiate.

Ella se divierte. (She amuses herself.)

Ellos se divierten. (They amuse themselves.)

Note: With the addition of the reflexive pronoun, we have seen that some verbs, such as lavar (to wash), take on a reflexive meaning, lavarse (to wash oneself). With other verbs, such as ir (to go), the reflexive form, irse (to go away), have a different, non-reflexive meaning. And still other verbs, such as jactarse (to boast), only have a reflexive forms.