Purpose

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to conjugate and use reflexive verbs correctly, including recognizing them by their infinitive form.

Lesson Explanation

A reflexive verb is one where the subject performs the action on itself — “I wash myself.” Spanish marks these verbs with a reflexive pronoun attached to the infinitive: lavarse (to wash oneself), recognizable by the -se ending.

Reflexive pronouns match the subject, and — like direct/indirect object pronouns — go before the conjugated verb:

me lavo — I wash myself
te lavas — you wash yourself
se lava — he/she washes himself/herself
nos lavamos — we wash ourselves
os laváis — you all wash yourselves (Spain)
se lavan — they wash themselves

Many extremely common daily-routine verbs are genuinely reflexive in Spanish where English doesn’t use “self” at all: levantarse (to get up), despertarse (to wake up), vestirse (to get dressed), acostarse (to go to bed), llamarse (to be named — already seen in Part 1, Lesson 3’s “Me llamo Ana”).

The reflexive pronoun follows the same infinitive-attachment flexibility as object pronouns (Part 3, Lesson 1): Voy a levantarme. OR Me voy a levantar. — both mean “I am going to get up.”

Practice Questions