Reflexive verbs are special in Spanish because they signal actions that are done by the subject to him/her/themself. In other words the subject and the object of the sentence is doing and receiving the action at the same time. You can recognize reflexive verbs by the “se” attached to the infinitive.

Verbos reflexivos

 despertarse (wake up)
levantarse (get up)

arreglarse (to get ready/ready oneself)

Otros  verbos reflexivos

The following are some more common reflexive verbs and their non-reflexive equivalents:

Forma reflexiva	Forma no reflexiva
afeitarse  (to shave oneself)	afeitar (to shave someone or something)
arreglarse (to get ready/ready oneself)	arreglar (to arrange someone or something)
caerse (to fall down)	caer (to fall, go down)
cansarse (to get tired)	cansar (to tire out)
cepillarse (to brush oneself)	cepillar (to brush someone or something)
ducharse (to shower oneself/take a shower)	duchar (to shower/give someone a shower)
irse (to go away, to leave)	ir (to go)
lastimarse (to hurt oneself)	lastimar (to hurt someone or something)
lavarse (to wash oneself)	lavar (to wash someone or something)
levantarse (to get up)	levantar (to lift someone or something)
llamarse (to be called, named)	llamar (to call someone or something)
maquillarse (to put make-up on oneself)	maquillar (to put make-up on someone else)
ponerse (to put on)	poner (to put)
probarse (to try on)	probar (to try, to taste)
quemarse (to burn oneself)	quemar (to burn someone or something)
quitarse (to take off, e.g. clothing)	quitar (to take away from someone or something)
relajarse (to relax oneself)	relajar (to relax someone or something)

Note that the meaning changes when the verb is reflexive or not.

You probably noticed in the vocabulary list above that all reflexive infinitives end with the pronoun “se”.  This ending is a reflexive pronoun, and is placed *before* a conjugated verb. This indicates that the subject of the sentence is doing the action to him/herself. The ending of the verb matches the subject (and the reflexive pronoun) according to the tense, and in this case we are still in the present tense. See the table that follows:

Subject Pronoun	Reflexive Pronoun	bañarse	vestirse	cepillarse	dormirse
yo	me	me baño	me visto	me cepillo	me duermo
tú	te	te bañas	te vistes	te cepillas	te duermes
él, ella, usted	se	se baña	se viste	se cepilla	se duerme
nosotros, nosotras	nos	nos bañamos	nos vestimos	nos cepillamos	nos dormimos
vosotros, vosotras	os	os bañáis	os vestís	os cepilláis	os dormís
ellos, ellas, ustedes	se	se bañan	se visten	se cepillan	se duermen

¡OJO! The reflexive pronoun “nos” and the subject pronoun “nosotros” are two different words, with different functions.  Never think that “nos” is an abbreviation of “nosotros”!

To recap, in reflexive verbs the subject is acting on itself: this is the most common use of the reflexive, though there are others. Essentially reflexives are verbs where the subject and object are the same. Here’s a summary table with the reflexive pronouns:

Why is this so complicated for English speakers? Because there is no exact translation of the reflexive verbs into English. The reflexive usage is often translated in a non-reflexive way, as you have seen since the start of this course: “Ella se llama Carmen” literally translates to “She calls herself Carmen”, but it is translated into English as “Her name is Carmen.”

Pronoun placement

To make the reflexive form complete you must add the appropriate reflexive pronoun and put it in the appropriate place. When the reflexive verb is conjugated, the reflexive pronoun must agree with the subject and it must precede the conjugated verb.

• Ella se levanta temprano. (She gets up early.)

As pointed out above, the reflexive pronoun must precede a conjugated verb. However, when the infinitive follows a conjugated verb or is part of a construct the reflexive pronoun may go either in front of the conjugated verb or attached to the infinitive at the end of the construct.

• Ella se tiene que levantar temprano. (She has to get up early.)
• Ella tiene que levantarse temprano. (She has to get up early.)

Similarly, in the present progressive the reflexive pronoun may go either in front of the conjugated verb “estar”, or attached to the gerund.  When attaching to the end of the gerund care must be taken to ensure that any required written accents are added.

• Ella se está levantando temprano. (She is getting up early.)
• Ella está levantándose temprano. (She is getting up early.)