Reflexive verbs in Spanish often cause learners a real headache because they are so different to how we use the same verbs in English and because they can completely change the meaning of the verb when used with a reflexive pronoun. For example, ‘ir’ means ‘to go’ whereas ‘irse’ means ‘to leave / go away’.
The best way to get your head around Spanish reflexive verbs is to stick with the ones you will need to use most.
Reflexive verbs occur when the subject and the object are the same in a sentence. For example, when you wash yourself, when you look at yourself in the mirror, when you put clothing on yourself.
However, there are also verbs that just happen to be reflexive which has nothing to do with the subject and the object of the sentence. Examples of these verbs include: quejarse = ‘to complain’ and atreverse = ‘to dare to’.
Me – myself
Te – yourself
Se – himself / herself
Nos – ourselves
Os – yourselves
Se – themselves
Here is a list of the most used reflexive verbs in Spanish:
1) acordarse – to remember
2) irse – to leave
3) casarse – to get married
4) sentirse – to feel
5) ponerse – to put on
6) hacerse – to become
7) atreverse – to dare
8) verse – to see yourself
9) encontrarse – to find yourself
10) quedarse – to stay
11) sentarse – to sit down
12) levantarse – to get up
13) enterarse – to find out
14) preguntarse – to wonder / ask yourself
15) llamarse – to call
16) reunirse – to meet up
17) preocuparse – to worry
18) decirse – to say to yourself
19) dedicarse – to dedicate yourself to
20) fijarse – to take notice
The best way to learn how to use these reflexive verbs is to try to make up your own sentences and use them with a native speaker when you get the opportunity.
Let’s look at some examples:
1) acordarse – to remember
Remember to follow this with “de”:
No me acuerdo de donde dejé mi libro. – I don’t remember where I left my book.
Or you could just say, ¿Te acuerdas? – Do you remember?
2) irse – to leave
Me voy de vacaciones el jueves. – I’m going on holiday on Thursday.
3) Casarse – to get married
Se casaron el año pasado. – They got married last year.
4) Sentirse – to feel
Me siento enfermo. – I feel ill.
5) Ponerse – to put on
Me pongo un abrigo porque hace frío. – I’m putting my coat on because it’s cold.
6) Hacerse – to become
Quiero hacerme abogado. – I want to become a lawyer.
7) Atreverse – to dare
No me atrevo preguntarle. – I don’t dare to ask him/her.
¿Te atreves a pedirle más dinero? – Do you dare to ask him/her for more money?
8) Verse – to see oneself
Se ve en el espejo cada mañana. – He looks at himself in the mirror every morning.
Me veo en una situación imposible – I see myself in an impossible situation.
9) Encontrarse – to find oneself
Me encontré con un problema grave. – I found myself with a serious problem.
10) Quedarse – to stay
Vamos a quedarnos en un hotel. – We are going to stay in a hotel.
Me quedé en casa anoche. – I stayed at home last night.
11) sentarse – to sit down
Quiero sentarme – I want to sit down.
¡Siéntate! – Sit down!
12) Levantarse – to get up
Me levanto a las seis de la mañana. – I get up at six in the morning.
¿A qué hora te levantas? – What time do you get up?
13) Enterarse – to find out
You use this in the sense of finding out new information.
Me enteré de los resultados ayer. – I found out the results yesterday.
Acabo de enterarme que conseguí el trabajo. – I have just found out that I got the job.
14) Preguntarse – to wonder / ask yourself
Me pregunto si venderé mi casa pronto – I wonder if I will see my house quickly.
Se preguntaba donde puso su cartera – He was wondering where he put his wallet.
15) llamarse – to call oneself
¿Cómo te llamas? – What is your name? (How do you call yourself?)
Me llamo Ana – I am called Ana.
16) reunirse – to meet up / get together
Nos reunimos una vez al mes. – We meet up once a month.
17) preocuparse – to worry
This is followed by “por” to say to work “about” something.
¿Por qué te preocupas tanto? – Why are you worrying so much?
¡No te preocupes! – Don’t worry!
18) Decirse – to say to oneself
Me digo que puedo hacerlo. – I tell myself that I can do it.
¿Por qué te dices eso? – Why do you tell yourself that?
19) Dedicarse – to dedicate yourself to
This is to tell people what you dedicate yourself to. Often it is to talk about your profession.
¿A qué te dedicas? – What do you dedicate yourself to?
Me dedico a un curso de español. – I dedicate myself to a Spanish course.
20) Fijarse – to notice something / concentrate on something
Me fijo en los precios de los vuelos porque en este momento son baratos.
I am concentrating on prices of flights because they are cheap at the moment.
¿Te has fijado en la hora? Es muy tarde. – Have you noticed the time? It’s very late.
If any of the above verbs are new, try out some example sentences and try to use them with a Spanish friend, relative or colleague. This way you will learn how to use them as well as memorise them more easily.