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Spanish Reflexive Verbs and Daily Routines

Reflexive constructions consist of a reflexive pronoun and a verb. An example is: Me despierto.
(I wake up). In English, reflexive pronouns end in -self or -selves; for example, myself,
yourself, ourselves, etc. In Spanish, the reflexive pronouns are: me, te, se, nos, os, se. A
Spanish reflexive verb in the infinitive has se attached to the end of it, such as, despertarse.

Me despierto a las ocho.

(I wake up at 8:00.)

To conjugate a reflexive verb, use the reflexive pronoun that corresponds with both the subject
and the verb form. It goes in front of the verb: (Yo) me despierto a las ocho.

Me despierto a las ocho. I wake up at 8:00.

Te despiertas a las ocho. You (familiar) wake up at 8:00.
Se despierta a las ocho. You (formal) wake up at 8:00.
He/She wakes up at 8:00.
Nos despertamos a las ocho. We wake up at 8:00.
Os despertáis a las ocho. You (familiar, plural) wake up at 8:00.
Se despiertan a las ocho. You (formal, plural) wake up at 8:00.
They wake up at 8:00.

In a sentence with a reflexive construction, the subject not only performs the action, but also
receives the action. Look at this example of the use of the reflexive verb cortarse.

Ayer, me corté.
(Yesterday, I cut myself.)

The subject did the cutting, that is, the subject performed the action. Also, the subject got cut,
that is, the subject received the action.

One way that reflexive verbs are used is with daily personal routines. You will find a list of
reflexives verbs on page 2.

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Daily Personal Routines

acostarse (ue) to go to bed levantarse to get up

afeitarse to shave maquillarse to put on makeup
bañarse to take a bath peinarse to comb one’s hair
cepillarse los dientes to brush one’s pintarse to put on makeup
teeth
cuidarse to care of oneself ponerse la ropa to put on one’s
clothes
despertarse (ie) to wake up quitarse la ropa to take off one’s
clothes
dormirse (ue) to fall asleep secarse to dry off
ducharse to take a shower vestirse to get dressed
lavarse to wash oneself

Sentences that use reflexive verbs are constructed differently in Spanish as compared to English.

Él se lava.
(He washes himself.)
Él se lava la cara.
(He washes his face.)
Look at this sentence: Él se lava.
In this sentence, the reflexive pronoun se acts as a direct object. To determine the direct
object, find out whom or what is the subject acting upon. In this case, ask this question:
“Whom is he washing?” The answer is: “himself”.

Now look at this sentence: Él se lava la cara.

In this sentence, the reflexive pronoun se acts as an indirect object. It may be easier to find the
direct object of this sentence first. Ask the question: “What is he washing?” The answer is:
“the face”. Now, you need to find the indirect object. To determine an indirect object, find out
to whom or for whom a subject is acting. In this case, ask the question: “For whom is he
washing the face?” The answer is: “for himself.”

Note that in this case, the definite article is used before the direct object (“the”). In Spanish, the
definite article is used when the direct object is a body part or an article of clothing. In English,
we use the possessive pronoun my, your, his, her, etc.: He washes his face.

Reflexive versus Nonflexive Verbs

When an action is performed on another person, a reflexive pronoun is not used.
Despierto a mi hermano a las ocho.
(I wake my brother up at 8:00.)
Ella cortó la manzana por la mitad.
(She cut the apple in half.)
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Raúl’s Morning Routine

Raúl

Raúl Primero, Entonces, Luego, Más tarde, Finalmente,

se despierta se baña. se seca. se peina. se cepilla se viste.
a las seis. los dientes.
(Then, he (Next, he (Later, he
(Raúl wakes (First, he dries himself combs his brushes his (Finally, he
up at 6:00.) takes a bath.) off.) hair.) teeth.) gets dressed.)

Write your morning routine here.

Me despierto Primero, Entonces, Luego, Más tarde, Finalmente,

a las ______.

Saturdays
Fill in the blank using the correct form of the verb in parenthesis. Include your own
Saturday morning routine.

1. (levantarse) Los sábados, Carlos y Juan _______________ a las ocho. Tomás _______________ a

las diez. Yo _______________ a las _______________.

2. (cepillarse) (ducharse) Olivia siempre ________________ los dientes antes de _______________.

3. (ducharse) (cepillarse) Carlos y Juan siempre ________________ antes de ________________ los

dientes. Yo _______________ antes de ___________________.

4. (vestirse) Olivia y Tomás _______________ de jeans. Carlos _______________ elegantemente.

Yo _________________________________________________________________________________________.

5. (afeitarse) Carlos y Tomás no _______________ los sábados.

Yo _________________________________________________________________________________________.

6. (maquillarse) Olivia _______________ . Isabel no ________________ los sábados.

Yo _________________________________________________________________________________________.
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Write the sentence using the verb as a reflexive verb.

Example:
Yo/despertar /a las siete y media (I wake up at 7:30.) Yo me despierto a las siete y media.

1. Sofía /cuidar/ bien (Sofia takes good care of herself.)

________________________________________________________________________________________

2. Arturo/vestir/antes de desayunar (Arthur gets dressed before he eats breakfast.)

________________________________________________________________________________________

3. Nosotros/lavar/ las manos antes de comer. (We wash our hands before eating.)

_________________________________________________________________________________________

4. Yo/quitar/la gorra. (I take off my hat.)

_________________________________________________________________________________________

5. Juan/acostar/a las nueve y media todas las noches. (John goes to bed at 9:30 every night.)

__________________________________________________________________________________________

6. Juan/dormir/a las diez todos los noches. (John falls asleep at 10:00 every night.)

__________________________________________________________________________________________

7. Yo/poner/ la chaqueta y salgo para la escuela. (I put on my jacket before I leave for school.)

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Answer these questions.

1. ¿A qué hora te despiertas diariamente? ____________________________________________________

2. ¿Prefieres ducharte o bañarte? ____________________________________________________________

3. ¿A qué hora te acuestas todos los días? ___________________________________________________

4. ¿Cuántas veces al día te peinas? _________________________________________________________

¿Cuántas veces al día te peinas?

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Decide whether to use a reflexive or nonreflexive verb in these sentences.

1. Julia _______________(bañar/bañarse) al perro. (Julia bathes the dog.)

2. Elsa ________________(acostar/acostarse) el niño a las ocho. (Elsa puts the boy to bed at 8:00.)

3. Yo _______________ (lavar/lavarse) los platos. (I wash the plates.)

4. Yo _______________ (lavar/lavarse) las manos. (I wash my hands.)

5. El muchacho _______________(afeitar/afeitarse) con cuidado para no _______________

(cortar/cortase). (The boy shaves carefully so he won’t cut himself.)

6. Vosotros _______________ (vestir/vestirse) muy elegantemente. (All of you dress very

elegantly.)

7. Ellas _______________(levantar/levantarse) temprano para ir al trabajo. (They get up early to

go to work.)

8. Matilde _______________ (vestir/vestirse) a su hermanita. (Matilde dresses her little sister.)

9. Laura _______________ (cepillar/cepillarse) el pelo. (Laura brushes her hair.)

Create a sentence to describe what is happening in each photo.

1. ____________________________________________________________________________________________

2. ____________________________________________________________________________________________

3. ____________________________________________________________________________________________

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