Reflexive Verbs

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Reflexive Verbs
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• The following verbs from Chapter 5 (page 157)
  are reflexive. A verb is reflexive when the
  infinitive has se attached to the end of the
  verb.
• acostarse (ue) lavarse
• afeitarse levantarse
• bañarse maquillarse
• cepillarse peinarse
• despertarse (ie) quitarse
• ducharse sentarse (ie)
• vestirse (i)

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• Reflexive means -self (myself, yourself,
  etc.). What se literally means is himself,
  herself, themselves, yourself (formal), or
  yourselves (formal).

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• Reflexive verbs have to have a reflexive pronoun.
  Se is the third person reflexive pronoun.
• He shaves (El) se afeita.
• You cant simply say afeita. That doesnt mean
  anything. If you were to say that to a speaker
  of Spanish, hed think, He shaves what? You
  have to specify He shaves HIMSELF.

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• What you do is take se off the end of the verb,
  put it in front of the verb, and then conjugate
  the verb
• (ie) (Ella) .
  She sits down. Literally, she seats herself.
• bañarse (Ellos) se bañan. -- They bathe.
  Literally, they bathe themselves.
• vestirse (i) (El) se viste. He dresses.
  Literally, he dresses himself.

sentar
se
sienta

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• CLICK HERE TO GO TO A SHORT PRACTICE

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• Se only works for third person. You cant
  use it to say I bathe or You wake up. You
  need first and second person pronouns.

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• Here are the reflexive pronouns
• me nos myself ourselves
• te os yourself yourselves
• se se himself, themselves,
• herself, yourselves (formal)
• itself,
• yourself (formal)

Notice that four of the pronouns are identical to
the direct object pronouns REFLEXIVE
DIRECT OBJECT
me nos me nos te os te os se se lo,
la los, las
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• So . . .
• I bathe. (Yo)
  . Literally, I bathe myself.
• You dry off. (Tú)
  . Literally, You dry yourself.
• We get up. (Nosotros)
  . Literally, We raise
  ourselves up.
• Yall take a shower.
  (Vosotros) . Literally,
  Yall shower yourselves.

bañar
se
me
baño
te
secas
secar
se
se
levantar
nos
levantamos
se
duchar
os
ducháis
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me nos te os se se
So how do you say you shave?

Te afeitas.
How about he shaves?
Se afeita.
And we shave?
Nos afeitamos.
Yall shave?
Os afeitáis.
They shave?
Se afeitan.
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• Dont make the mistake of thinking that me,
  te, etc., are substitutes for subject pronouns.
  I can say
• me afeito and te afeitas
• but I can also say
• yo me afeito and tú te afeitas

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• CLICK HERE TO GO TO A SHORT PRACTICE.

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• With most reflexive verbs, if theyre not
  reflexive, you have to do the action to someone
  else
• I shave (myself). Me afeito.
• 
  Afeito al hombre. I shave the man.
• I sit down (seat myself). Me siento.
• 
  Siento a mis amigos. I seat my friends.
• I wake up (myself). Me despierto.
• 
  Despierto a mi hija. I wake my daughter up.
• I go to bed. Me acuesto.
• 
  Acuesto a mis hijas. I put my daughters to bed.
• The first one of each pair has me as a
  reflexive pronoun. The second doesnt have a
  reflexive pronoun because it has a direct object.

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Now look again at the sentences from the previous
slide. What if, instead of I shave the
man, you want to say, I shave him?
I shave (myself). Me afeito.

Afeito al hombre. I shave the man.
Lo afeito.
I shave him.
What about I seat them instead of I seat my
friends? I sit down (seat myself). Me
siento.
Siento a mis amigos. I seat my friends.
I seat them.
Los siento.
And I wake her up instead of I wake my
daughter up? I wake up (myself). Me
despierto.
Despierto a mi hija. I wake my daughter
up.
La despierto.
I wake her up.
Finally, I put them to bed instead of I put my
daughers to bed? I go to bed.
Me acuesto.
Acuesto a mis hijas. I put my daughters
to bed.
I put them to bed.
Las acuesto.
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• CLICK HERE TO GO TO A SHORT PRACTICE.

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DORMIRSE

• The verb dormirse is a little different.
  You cant sleep someone else. Dormir means to
  sleep dormirse means to fall asleep.
• Duermo. I sleep.
• Me duermo. I fall asleep.
• Lo duermo. -- Garbage. Not possible.