Reflexive pronouns confuse me.
1.How often/Why do you use reflexive pronouns when they are already defined in the sentence? Examples I have seen: a. “El hombre se esta lavando la cara.” Why not, “El hombre esta lavando su cara.”? b. “Ella se da el libro a su esposo.” Why not, "Ella da el libro a su esposo." ? c. “El les está ensañando a los niños.” Why not, "El esta ensanando a los ninos." ?
An explanation that was offered by a text was that it somehow emphasizes the person spoken of. I did not follow that either.
Please forgive my lack of accent marks and the tildas. I mean no disrespect. I am still learning how to take advantage of the program. I can't figure out how to correct my errors after I discover them!!
By the way, I am duly impressed with the timely, thoughtful, and erudite answers provided to my prior questions.
8 Answers
“Ella se da el libro a su esposo.”
Ella le da el libro a su esposo. It needs an object pronoun, not a reflexive pronoun.
I think that you are confusing reflexive pronouns with "redundant" object pronouns.
El hombre se está lavando la cara.
The se is a reflexive pronoun, not the "redundant" i.o. p. pronoun. It occurs when the subject of the verb is also the receiver of the verb's action. The man is the one one washing a face and it is also his face that is being washed.
Ella le da el libro a su esposo. She is giving something, but she is neither the the one being given to nor the thing being given, the book is being given to the husband.
Why not, "Ella da el libro a su esposo?
You need to read the article below or the one in our reference library on indirect object pronouns.
With reflexivity, the doer of the action is the same as the person to whom the action is done. That's why when you say "El hombre se esta lavando la cara," it clearly says whose face is being washed and the person who's doing it. Perhaps "El hombre está lavando su cara" is possible but would have a different meaning. Note that "...se está lavando su cara" is redundant and utterly wrong. So I advise you to stick to the reflexive form in actions such as washing your face (lavarse la cara), taking a bath/shower (bañarse/ducharse), combing your hair (peinarse), shaving your facial hair (afeitarse), and the like.
In "Ella se da el libro a su esposo", if what you mean in English is "She gives the book to her husband," the "se" is unnecessary and must be omitted. Also, there are very select instances when you need to include the personal pronoun (in this case, ella) and you oftentimes need to omit that as well. Lastly, you need the indirect object pronoun "le" here ([Ella] le da el libro a su esposo) (see next paragraph for a little discussion of it).
In "Él les está ensañando a los niños," les is not a reflexive pronoun. In this case it refers to "los niños" and is called an "indirect object pronoun." There are exceptions, but oftentimes when there is an indirect object in a sentence (los niños in this case), you need to include the corresponding indirect object pronoun. And again, you would have to omit the "él" unless you are comparing or if it is needed to avoid ambiguity.
Hi
¡Bienvenido al foro!
Use 'edit' option next to 'watch this question' to correct your mistakes.
-In spanish, reflexive verbs are frequently used than compared to english. If you translate the sentence with reflexive verbs, it might be confusing.
These verbs (reflexive) emphasises ones action. For some cases, the meaning of verbs might differ when it is reflexive compared to its normal form.
-In spanish, generally possesive pronouns are not used with parts of the body.
In a, lavarse is the reflexive verb used, so it is used as se esta lavando meaning he is washing. in english we will say his hair but in spanish we wont say like that. Unless mentioned somebodyelse's hair, he is washing his hair when the definite article is used. ( Please explain clearly if am not conveying the right meaning)
In second sentence, the verb used is darse not dar. It emphasises the action of giving.
In third sentence, it is not reflexive( I think. Please correct if i'm wrong) indirect object is used. Les referes to the children there.
Hope this clarifies.
You can refer this lesson on SD Reflexive verbs
It depends on the verb and the meaning you're trying to get across.
When someone is washing their face, you use the form lavarse because he is washing himself - hence it is reflexive. On the other hand, if he's washing a car, he's not washing himself, and it is not reflexive.
Some verbs can get a pronoun and aren't reflexive, but they change their meaning by making the verb intransitive (lacking a direct object). An example you probably know is irse - it means to leave, while ir means to go. The pronoun version puts an emphasis on the act of leaving rather than going. Don't think of this as reflexive because you're not going to yourself - that wouldn't make sense.
Another example is balancear vs balancearse. One means to swing something, and the other is just to swing (like: I swung back and forth).
If all that's too confusing, don't worry about it because after a while you'll start to know when you need these pronouns just from hearing and reading more.
For that next example, I believe that it should be le, not se. This isn't a reflexive sentence. It's about indirect object pronouns. Who recieves the book? Her husband. Therefore, her husband is the recipient of the direct object, the book. He is the indirect object.
It is the same for the next example. Les refers to los niños. Read the reference link and it should make more sense.
“El hombre esta lavando su cara.” / "The man is washing his face."
Note that the English is mildly ambiguous. (to emphasize the ambiguity, consider "The barber is shaving his face." [his own/that of a male customer])
In Spanish "su"' could refer not only to another male (as in English) but to "her" face or "your" face. In English, you can clear up the ambiguity by saying "his own face". Using the reflexive "lavarse" serves the same purpose in Spanish In fact because one refers to ones own body parts with the definite article rather than the possessive adjective, “El hombre esta lavando su cara.” would only be interpreted as washing the face of someone else.
Don't let reflexive verbs scare you. They are really very, very easy.
With a reflexive verb, the reflexive pronoun is essentially an object pronoun. More or less that's what it is.
And it's always conjugated the same as the verb.
Me lavo. I wash myself. Use any other pronoun with lavo, and it's not reflexive. Lavo still means "I'm washing", but if I use te or se, now I'm washing something else.
Te lavas. Same as above. You are washing yourself. If I say "Me lavas" they don't match. It's not reflexive. Now you are washing me! 
It's just that simple. Don't focus on them being a special class of verbs with a special name. It's not that big of a deal.
Why not, “El hombre esta lavando su cara.”?
So why isn't in English like in Spanish? You can say the above sentence is the man has a (prosthetic) face, somewhere, and he decides to wish that face. However, you don't use it for your own face.
Why not, "Ella da el libro a su esposo." ?
Why not "She give husband book", or "She husband book give", or "Husband book she gives"? You are assuming that English is the culmination of perfect logical grammar, and everything else is flawed. There is no why. Different languages use different conventions.
A 3 y.o. Turkish little child has a command of grammar as good as any educated adult, vastly superior to most foreigners who try to learn Turkish. A 3 y.o. English child is miles away behind an older educated speaker in English. Seeing how 'easy' Turkish is for all human beings, it is hard not to wonder why English does things in such a weird way -i.e. in a way that forces children to spend at least one or two years more time to reach a similar level.
If I were a Turkish, I would as "Why can't English speakers master their grammar until they are 6 or more? Turkish children can do that by the age of 3 anyway, and Turkish grammar is everything but simple. Why is English grammar so primitive?
Welcome to the club!
I mean, i get confused too. [and welcome to the forum.]
