A Quick Guide to Reflexive Verbs in Spanish

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Click here to find out what Spanish reflexive verbs are, and how to use them in a variety of tenses—then quiz yourself to see how much you learned!

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How to form Spanish reflexive verbsCommon reflexive verbsOrder – where to put the Spanish reflexive pronouns in a sentenceWith another objectOther examplesMini QuizConclusion

A reflexive construction describes an action done to oneself: me lavo means “I wash myself.” Infinitives with -se, such as lavarse or levantarse, use a pronoun matching the subject. However, -se does not always mean “oneself”: some pronominal verbs describe a change of state or have a different meaning, as in me aburro (I get bored).

How to form Spanish reflexive verbs

Reflexive verbs in Spanish are pretty easy to use. All you have to do is conjugate the verb as normal and then put the appropriate reflexive pronoun in front of the verb. Here are the pronouns:

Common reflexive verbs

Dictionary infinitives ending in -se show pronominal uses. Some are reflexive; others are not. The pronoun still matches the subject: me, te, se, nos, os, se.

A lot of the most common ones refer to daily routine:

• despertarseto wake up
• levantarseto get up
• ducharseto take a shower
• bañarseto bathe
• lavarseto wash oneself
• vestirseto get dressed
• peinarseto comb one’s hair
• afeitarseto shave
• maquillarseto put on makeup
• desvestirseto undress
• acostarseto go to bed

See also: 65 Spanish Words and Phrases to Express your Daily Routine

These daily-routine verbs use pronouns matching the subject. Some describe actions on oneself, while others describe getting up or a change of state. The English glosses below help explain the construction; natural English does not always use “myself,” “yourself,” or “oneself.”

Order – where to put the Spanish reflexive pronouns in a sentence

In the present tense, the reflexive pronoun goes directly before the verb, for example:

(Yo) me visto. I get dressed/I dress myself.

The pronoun also goes before the conjugated verb in other simple indicative and conditional tenses. Commands follow the separate rules below.

• (Tú) te despertarás a las 6.You will wake up at 6.
• Ana se acostó a medianoche.Ana went to bed at midnight.
• (Nosotros) nos ducharíamos si hubiera agua caliente.We would shower if there were any hot water.

In compound tenses, the pronoun goes immediately before the auxiliary haber, not between haber and the past participle.

Some examples:

• (Vosotros) os habéis peinado.You have all combed your hair.
• (Ella) se había maquillado.She had done her makeup.
• (Nosotros) nos habríamos levantado.We would have got up.
• Si (ellos) ya se hubieran peinado, habríamos ahorrado tiempo.If they had already combed their hair, we would have saved time.
• Me habré vestido.I will have got dressed.

If we are using the verb in the infinitive, you can just stick the pronoun straight on the end. Sometimes it’s also possible to put it before the verb(s).

• Voy a bañarme.
  Me voy a bañar.I am going to bathe myself.
• Tienes que acostarte.
  Te tienes que acostar.You have to go to bed.
• No es necesario maquillarse.It is not necessary to put on makeup.

The same rule applies with the gerund.

• Estoy peinándome.*
  Me estoy peinando.I am doing my hair.
• Pablo estaba afeitándose.*
  Pablo se estaba afeitando.Pablo was shaving himself.
• Estarán vistiéndose.*
  Se estarán vistiendo.They’ll be getting dressed.

* When you add this extra syllable to the end of a word, you may need to add an accent to make sure the stress stays in the correct place.

In the

positive imperative

(that’s giving commands and telling people to do things), the pronoun always just goes straight on the end. As with the gerund, you may have to throw in an accent to keep the emphasis on the right syllable.

• ¡Despiértate ahora mismo!Wake up right now!
• Duchaos.*Get yourselves showered.
• VístanseGet dressed. (formal plural)

*The imperative form of duchar for vosotros (you informal plural) is duchad. The final ‘d’ is dropped when we add the ‘os.’

For the negative imperative (i.e. telling someone NOT to do something), the pronoun goes between the no and the verb.

• No te maquilles.Don’t put makeup on.
• No os bañéis, el agua cuesta mucho.Don’t take baths, the water costs a lot.
• No se levanten.Don’t get up. (formal plural)

With another object

Compare the object roles in these examples. In Yo lavo el coche, el coche is the direct object. In Yo me lavo, me is a reflexive direct object. In Yo me lavo las manos, las manos is the direct object and me is a reflexive indirect object.

Yo lavo el coche. = I wash the car.

Yo me lavo. = I wash myself.

Yo me lavo las manos. = I wash my hands.

This construction means that we don’t always use possessive pronouns (my, your, his, etc.) in Spanish in the same way as in English. The reflexive pronoun makes it clear that you’re referring to your own body parts!

It works with some of the verbs we’ve already looked at, and other phrases form in similar ways:

• Me cepillo los dientes.I brush my teeth.
• Se afeitó la barba.He shaved his beard.
• Nos peinamos el pelo.We combed our hair.
• ¡Cuidado! Te vas a cortar con el vidrio.Careful! You’ll cut yourself on the glass.

Other examples

Some verbs mean one thing, but when you add ‘se,’ they act like reflexive verbs (for the grammar nerds, they become what we call “pronominal verbs”) and take on a slightly different meaning.

Mini Quiz

Let’s try out a few questions to see if you’ve got the idea!

First of all, translate the following:

1. Me desperté muy tarde.

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I woke up very late.

2. Te llamas Juan.

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You are called Juan.

3. ¿Os habéis cepillado los dientes?

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Have you guys brushed your teeth?

Now try filling in the gaps:

4. I woke up like this. = ____ desperté así.

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Me desperté así.

5. They are combing their hair. = ____están peinando.

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Se están peinando.

6. You have to go to bed at 9. = Tienes que acostar ____ a las 9.

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Tienes que acostarte a las 9.

Conclusion

Well done, you’ve made it to the end of another grammar article, which we hope has been useful! We’ve shown you what reflexive verbs look like, what they’re used for, and given you a summary of how to use them in various tenses. Have fun practicing them, a little each day. ¡Hasta luego!

For more grammar lessons, check out My Spanish Routine Volume 1 with audio!

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