"can you give clarity to using reflexive verbs"

Question

Reflexive verbs can be confusing....do not always know when to use over another verb. I understand the usage when: ducharse, banarse, cepillarse....do you say "me lavo mi cara? or me lavo la cara?
Q 2. when do you use " de lo que" versus "de que" what is the difference...can you say "despues de lo que me lavo la cara, voy a preparar cafe" or do you say "despues de lavarme la cara, voy a preparar el cafe? Gracias.

Gracias....your answer was very helpful. I am still confused as to when you might use de lo que...I have seen it in a text book, but cannot find it at the moment. Any thoughts on this one? Muchisimas gracias. Deborah - dbreen, Mar 2, 2010

Answer 1

Welcome to the forum!

You've asked a couple of hefty questions...I am sure that someone can provide you with a link to a grammatical explanation, but I will get you started the old-fashioned way.

1. You are correct that when you use the reflexive you generally do not use the possessive. For exaple: "Me lavo la cara", "me cepillo los dientes", etc.

2. Some verbs are reflexive in Spanish that are translated with a prepositional component in English. For example: "to fall down" - "caerse",.. "to turn around" - "volverse", etc.

3. "después de" is used before infinitives when there is no change of subject. For example, "después de lavarme la cara, bajo a desayunar". "Después de que..." is used when there is a change of subject (since you are introducung a new clause, you must have a conjunction, whish is the "que" part). For example: "Lo vi después de que salió de clase" - I saw him after he got out of class.

4. "Después de lo que" is not used.

I hope this has helped you and not just been confusing!

Nice explanation! :-) - chaparrito, Mar 2, 2010

Answer 2

"Después de lo que" is not used.

It is used, just not in the way you did, dbreen. It basically means "After what..." Here's an example:

Después de lo que había leído, decidí no comer la iguana.

After what I had read, I decided not to eat the iguana.

I hope that helps! And in the future, it would be best to ask separate questions in separate posts.

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