Me O Yo O Yo me?

Question

The question is: ¿Cuañdo te lavas los dientes? Answer is Yo me lavo los dientes por la mañana y la noches. Why Yo me and not just yo? Also ¿Cuándo te bañas? Me baño a las sies. Again why not Yo and why Me? Gracias

Answer 1

You can say me lavo los dientes and that´s perfect because you´re using the reflexive form correctly. Sometimes teachers ask to use the complete form Yo me lavo los dientes in the first stages of learning to help grammar rules acquisition.

Answer 2

The yo isn't necessary at all. Me baño or Me lavo tells you that you are discussing bathing or washing yourself.

Why Yo me and not just yo?

The me is necessary because the verb is being used reflexively and requires a reflexive pronoun. It tells you that you are cleaning your own teeth and not someone else's.

Me pongo los zapatos. (I am putting my shoes on myself.) (reflexive pronoun me)

Le pongo los zapatos. (I am putting his shoes on him) (Non-reflexive pronoun le)

Reference article on reflexive pronouns

Answer 3

Well, notice that in English, you would say: I brush my teeth, this would be, literally in Spanish: "Yo lavo mis dientes", which is correct but a little weird to use.

But in Spanish you have another option, which has no translation in English. Yo me lavo los dientes. Me indicates the person, which in this case it's you (Direct object pronoun, if I'm not wrong) It means that you are "brushing the teeth to you".

These are all the direct object pronouns.

Yo me lavo los dientes

Tú(vos) te lavas(Iavás) los dientes

Él/Ella se lava los dientes

Nosotros nos lavamos los dientes

Vosotros(Ustedes) os(se) laváis(lavan) los dientes

Ellos se lavan los dientes