reflexive question (not rhetorical:)
So I understand the usual basics of reflexive verbs- when the subject and object are the same thing- and that many of these verbs have to do with daily habits (e.g. ducharse, levantarse, despertarse, etc). So normally I would say something like: Hoy, me levanté a las 7.
I also get that reciprocal verbs are ones that we do to each other (besarse, casarse, pelearse, etc)- in these it seems that the subject and object are still sort of the same thing. Kyle y Karen se casaron.
BUT- what about when I want to use a verb that is normally reflexive but want to talk about a different subject and object?
For example... what if 'she is brushing my hair'? Or if 'I wake her up'?
Do I still use the pronoun and conjugate according to the subject?- "Ella se peina mi pelo." Or do I change the pronoun for the object (me) but conjugate the verb according to the subject: "Ella me peina el pelo"? And: "Me despierto a mi hermana". or "Se despierto mi hermana."?
Could somebody clear that one up for me? I hope the question made sense.
4 Answers
Hi, la maestra roja. Here's how it works.
Consider the sentence, "She brushes my hair." The verb is always conjugated according to who does it. In this case, 'she' is doing the brushing, so you conjugated the verb with the ella form. But she is doing it to me; I am the recipient of the action, and the recipient of the action is represented by the pronoun, so you must use the pronoun that goes with 'me', which is me. So it would be "Me peina el pelo."
Does it make sense now? Let me know if you're still confused.
Pay particular attention to what Lazarus said. "There are no reflexive verbs in Spanish". I think I can help by showing you a few examples of how a verb changes with the addition of a reflexive pronoun. Note the following.
aburrir - to bore.... aburrirse - to be bored
enojar - to anger.... enojarse - to become angry
llamar - to call.... llamarse - to be called
lastimar to hurt, injure.... lastimarse - to hurt oneself
preguntar - to ask.... preguntarse - to wonder (ask oneself)
hacer - to make, do.... hacerse - to become
ir - to go... irse - to go away, leave
Hope this helps.
BUT- what about when I want to use a verb that is normally reflexive but want to talk about a different subject and object? For example... what if 'she is brushing my hair'? Or if 'I wake her up'?
First of all, there are not reflexive verbs in Spanish. Many verbs usually take object pronouns, and often these pronouns refer to objects and people other than the subject of the sentence. When you want to do it to yourself instead of to others, you pick what is called a reflexive pronoun, instead of a normal one. The verb is the same throughout!
Le lavo el pelo (a ella) = I wash her hair
Me lavo el pelo (a mí) = I wash my hair
The verb is "lavar", and I've just replaced "le" (-> her) with "me" (-> my). There are no reflexive verbs, sorry, just verbs that can be used with reflexive pronouns... only if you want. It is just a pile of rubbish that books try to sell you. Imagine that someone said that the verb "wash oneself" is a reflexive verb, and a foreigner came and ask you how to use this "reflexive" verb so you wash other people instead of yourself. What would you say? "I wash myself him"?
Why came up with this stupid idea of reflexive verbs anyway?
Now, "levantarse" is a not a reflexive verb either, and this pronoun is not functioning as a reflexive pronoun either. This verb is called pronominal, and its translation is "to get up", not to "lift oneself", which is how you'd interpret it if it was truly reflexive.
Edit: Never mind. Already better answers.
