The short version
- A reflexive verb is one where you do the action to yourself: me ducho (I shower), me visto (I get dressed).
- The little word changes with the person: me, te, se, nos, os, se.
- Learn them through your own routine, and practise the same routine in the present, the past and the future.
Your alarm goes off. By the time you leave the house, you've probably done five or six things that need reflexive verbs in Spanish. You wake up, get up, shower, get dressed, brush your teeth, and go.
That's why the daily routine is the best place to learn reflexive verbs in Spanish. You already know what you do every morning. You just need the words, and a small pronoun that goes in front of the verb.
It's also a conversation that comes up more than you'd think. ¿A qué hora te levantas?, ¿Eres de madrugar? and ¿Cómo te organizas por las mañanas? are normal small talk, especially with colleagues.
What makes a verb reflexive
In a reflexive verb, the person doing the action is also the person receiving it. You don't just wash, you wash yourself. You don't just get up, you get yourself up.
English usually drops the "myself". Spanish keeps it, as a small word before the verb: me.
- Levanto la caja.I lift the box.
- Me levanto.I get up. (I lift myself.)
- Me levanto a las siete.I get up at seven.
- Me levanto a las siete y me ducho enseguida.I get up at seven and shower straight away.
The pronoun changes with the person, just like the verb ending.
| Pronoun | Verb | English |
|---|---|---|
| me | levanto | I get up |
| te | levantas | you get up |
| se | levanta | he / she gets up, you (usted) get up |
| nos | levantamos | we get up |
| os | levantáis | you all get up |
| se | levantan | they get up, you all (ustedes) get up |
In the dictionary, reflexive verbs have -se on the end: levantarse, ducharse, acostarse. That's how you spot them.
Your daily routine, verb by verb
Here are the verbs most people need for an ordinary day. Some have a stem change (the o or e in the middle changes), so they're shown in the yo form to learn as they are.
| Infinitive | I… | English |
|---|---|---|
| despertarse | me despierto | I wake up |
| levantarse | me levanto | I get up |
| ducharse | me ducho | I shower |
| lavarse los dientes | me lavo los dientes | I brush my teeth |
| vestirse | me visto | I get dressed |
| peinarse | me peino | I do my hair |
| afeitarse | me afeito | I shave |
| maquillarse | me maquillo | I put my make-up on |
| irse | me voy | I leave / I'm off |
| acostarse | me acuesto | I go to bed |
| dormirse | me duermo | I fall asleep |
Not everything in your day is reflexive. Desayuno (I have breakfast), salgo de casa (I leave the house), llego al trabajo (I get to work), como (I have lunch) and ceno (I have dinner) have no pronoun. Mixing the two is completely normal: Me levanto, me ducho, desayuno y salgo de casa a las ocho.
When you do something to your own body, Spanish uses el, la or los, not mi. Say me lavo el pelo (I wash my hair), not me lavo mi pelo. Say me lavo los dientes, not mis dientes. The me already tells people whose hair it is.
Verbs that change meaning
Some verbs exist in both forms and mean something different with the pronoun. These are worth learning in pairs, because they come up in everyday conversation.
| Without pronoun | English | With pronoun | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| Duermo ocho horas. | I sleep eight hours. | Me duermo en el sofá. | I fall asleep on the sofa. |
| Voy al trabajo. | I go to work. | Me voy. | I'm off. / I'm leaving. |
| Quedo con amigos. | I meet up with friends. | Me quedo en casa. | I stay at home. |
| Acuesto a los niños. | I put the kids to bed. | Me acuesto tarde. | I go to bed late. |
| Despierto a mi pareja. | I wake my partner up. | Me despierto pronto. | I wake up early. |
Me voy is especially useful. It's the everyday way to say you're leaving, and you'll hear it at the end of every visit, shift and night out: Bueno, me voy, que es tarde.
Where the pronoun goes
Most of the time the pronoun goes straight before the verb: me ducho, te levantas. But when there are two verbs together, you get a choice.
With an infinitive or an -ando / -iendo form, the pronoun can go before the first verb or be stuck to the end of the second. Me voy a duchar and Voy a ducharme both mean "I'm going to shower". Me estoy vistiendo and Estoy vistiéndome both mean "I'm getting dressed". Pick one and use it. Both are correct.
If you're not sure, putting it at the front is usually the easiest option in conversation, because you don't have to change the verb or think about accents.
Your routine in a conversation
Questions about routine are easy to turn around, because the question and the answer use the same verb. ¿A qué hora te levantas? becomes Me levanto a las siete.
Me cuesta (I find it hard) is a very handy phrase to add to this conversation. Me cuesta levantarme, me cuesta dormirme. And if you're always tired, the tener expressions post has tengo sueño for you.
Say your morning routine out loud in the present: Me levanto, me ducho, me visto. Then say it again as yesterday: Me levanté, me duché, me vestí. Then as tomorrow: Me voy a levantar, me voy a duchar, me voy a vestir. Same verbs, same order, three tenses. It takes two minutes, and it gets you using the past and future with verbs you already know well.
The past version is exactly what you need for talking about your weekend, and the future version uses the same ir a structure as talking about the future.
Common mistakes
Forgetting the pronoun. Levanto a las siete sounds like you lift something at seven.
Me levanto a las siete.
Using the wrong pronoun for the person. Tú me levantas means "you get me up".
Match it: tú te levantas, ella se levanta.
Using mi with body parts.
Me lavo el pelo, me lavo los dientes.
Making every verb reflexive.
Desayuno, salgo, llego and ceno don't need a pronoun.
Learning the list but never your own routine.
Describe your actual day, out loud, every morning for a week.
If you want someone to hear your routine, record it and post it in the 100 Spanish Conversations community on Skool. It's a short, low-pressure thing to share, and people will usually reply with theirs.
Recap
- Reflexive verbs are actions you do to yourself, with a pronoun: me ducho.
- The pronoun changes with the person: me, te, se, nos, os, se.
- Use el or los, not mi, with body parts.
- Some verbs change meaning with the pronoun: voy and me voy.
- Practise your own routine in the present, past and future.
Your daily routine is one of the themes in 100 Spanish Conversations, where you build it from words to full sentences to a real conversation, one step at a time, out loud.
Leeroy studied Spanish for years before moving to Spain and finding he couldn't hold a conversation. He built Basically Spanish around the method that fixed it. Questions? leeroy@basicallyspanish.com