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Introduction to Spanish Reflexive

©RCAguilar
OBJECTIVE: Work with the notion that sometimes actions, ideas, plots, theories, decisions, etc., reflect BACK to the person doing the deed.
TASK: Look in a mirror and what do you see?
PERPLEXED?
Any vampires in your gene pool?
About "Reflexive" ...
The term "reflexive" indicates that whatever occurs as the action of the verb occurs back to the initial "doer."
Almost every single verb in the Spanish language can be turned "reflexive" by the use of the respective "reflexive pronouns."

 

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Reference
Subject Pronouns
yo
nosotros
nosotras
tú*
vosotros
vosotras
él
ella
Usted
ellos
ellas
Ustedes
*In some countries in Central & South America vos is used instead of .

Reflexive Pronouns
me
nos
te
os
se
 se

Direct Object Pronouns
me nos
te os
lo
la
lo/la
los
las
los/las

Indirect Object Pronouns
me nos
te os
le les
Reflexive Verbs & Pronouns

Reflexive verbs are no different in their conjugated forms from any other verb.

They just add another component, so that the verb changes to include "oneself" in the meaning.

This is a regularly conjugated verb in English:

     
©Unknown
I see
we see
you see
y'all see
he, she, it sees
they see
©Jim Robertson

Now the same verb becomes reflexive by adding the "-self" component.

I see
myself
   
you seee
yourself
   
he sees
she sees
it sees
himself
herself
itself
©Gary Colston 1998
we see
ourselves
   
y'all see
yourselves
   
they see
themselves

 

Hence you can see that a reflexive verb is one in which the subject is performing an action upon oneself.

All of the "-self" words shown above are the reflexive pronouns.


Reflexive Verbs

Almost any verb can become reflexive by adding the "-self" component.

As you saw in the English reflexive verb conjugation, all we did was add "myself," "yourself," "himself," etc.

This is a regular -ar verb in Spanish, conjugated in the present tense:
miro
miramos
miras
miráis
mira
miran

 

In Spanish, the "-self" components are placed before the conjugated verb.
yo
me
miro
nosotros
nosotras
nos
miramos
te
miras
vosotros
vosotras
os
miráis
él
ella
Usted
se
mira
ellos
ellas
ustedes
se
miran
These pronouns refer to the¨"-self" as the object and are called reflexive pronouns.
Note that "se" represents himself, herself, Yourself, themselves, and Yourselves.

- AR reflexive verbs
YO
me
_________o
I do the action of the verb to myself, for myself, or just plain old "myself."
Yo
me
llamo
I call myself .....I call me ..... I'm calling myself ..... ! "My name is ..... "
Yo
me
canto
I sing to myself. I´m singing to me ! 'Tis for me that I sing ! I do sing to myself !
Yo
me
hablo
I speak to myself. I´m talking to myself. Do I speak to myself? I'm talking to ME !
Yo
me
preparo
I'm getting ready. I'm preparing myself. I prepare myself. I do fix myself up!
Yo
me
abrazo
I hug myself. I embrace myself. I'm hugging me ! I do hug myself!
 

You don't even really need the word "yo" ...

the -o at the end of the verb says: "'Tis I who is presently involved in doing the deed!"