There is a huge class of Spanish verbs called reflexive verbs, that simply don't have an equivalent in English. You could, however, make English verbs reflexive by adding words like myself, yourself, or himself. Likewise, English sentences like "She will be seated" or "Joanie gets dressed" also exhibit some form of reflexivity in that the action is directed, or reflected, back to the subject of the sentence via the addition of an adjective or past participle.
In the dictionary or vocabulary lists, reflexive verbs in their infinitive forms have an attached pronoun se. When conjugated the pronoun will precede the conjugated verb.
The following are some examples of sentences with reflexive verbs:
Now each of the above verbs used have a transitive mode, as well. Notice the following sentences, with NO reflexive pronouns:
In these instances, the verb doesn't reflect back onto the subject, but rather addresses an object or other people.
There are SEVERAL reflexive verbs in Spanish that deal with actions that one does to his or her body, or daily hygienic activities. The literal translation of these verb phrases are practically illogical and odd, so it will do you no good to translate directly into English. Remember, avoid the translation trap. In these cases, the reflexive pronoun is an indirect object rather than a direct one. For example, the reflexive verb ponerse + article of clothing means literally "to put on to oneself the article of clothing". So,
And, using the reflexive verb limpiarse (to clean oneself) and adding a body part to that (los dientes, for example), we can say
Other commonly used reflexive verb phrases that might interest you are listed below.
So, if this your opening venture into the world of reflexive verbs, let it not be your last, because I assure you, it won't!
Sigue estudiando,
Professor Joel
It looks like the reflexive also implies ownership of the noun. There is no need to add my, his, their.
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