Reflexive verbs: Me lavo el pelo
I have a reflexive verb question. A sentence " Me lavo el pelo" is translated as " I wash my hair", why can't I just say "Lavo mi pelo"? And for the former, how should it be understood? Is is rendered as :" I wash myself my hair"?.
Gracias muchas para todos contesta.
4 Answers
And for the former, how should it be understood? Is is rendered as :" I wash myself my hair"?
I will be understood, but it sounds odd, because we only uses possessives (i.e. mi) with things that you own, buy, sell... not with parts of your body. If you call you wig "hair", then "Lavo mi pelo" (I wash my hair=wig) is fine, because you own that wig.
Therefore, you need to use a reflexive pronoun with the verb lavar. There is no such thing as a reflexive verb in Spanish; the verb is lavar, whether you use "me" or not.
Gracias muchas para todos contesta.
That means "Thanks very many feminines towards everybody he answers" (yes, literally). Next time try "Gracias por la respuesta de antemano" (de antemano = beforehand)
Me lavo el pelo - I wash my hair. Lavar is reflexive in this case because you are washing a part of yourself. Other examples: Me lavo las manos (I wash my hands), me lavo los pies (I wash my feet).
Lavo mi pelo - this is not correct because lavar must be reflexive because you are washing a part of yourself.
Note that the article, not the possessive pronoun, is used in the example.
Me lavo el pelo. Me lavo las manos. Me lavo los pies.
The definite articles are used in these cases because it is already assumed that the part of the body you are washing is your own, because of the fact that the sentence says "Me lavo". It would be the same if you were saying the He is washing his hair. El se lava el pelo.
The problem is, if it is a problem, that you can't translate every word as standing on its own. Lavarse is a reflexive verb that refers to the speaker. Other languages may use another construction to express the same idea. F.i. in English we make use of a possessive pronoun : ' I wash my hair'. Another example : 'equivocarse'. In English :' to be mistaken', whereas in French and in German we also use reflexive verbs such as 'se tromper' and 'sich irren'. But we can't take it for granted that a reflexive verb in one particular language can be translated by another reflexive verb in other languages.
Esta es la respuesta que siempre doy a mis alumnos sobre "Me lavo el pelo:" En inglés es importante el órden de la frase - Sujeto + verbo + complemento - En esta frase en particular, el sujeto es "yo", el verbo es "lavo" y el comnplemento es " el pelo", por lo tanto "me" que no es ni el sujeto, ni el verbo ni el complemento, sobra en inglés.
Sería reflexivo la siguiente frase: "Me lavo - I wash myself" pero no así "me lavo las manos o se lavó la cara. Espero que sea esta respuesta la que buscabas. un saludo
