Game: Those pronominal, non-reflexive, verbs
I'm posting this thread because, lately, I've seen a lot of confusion about what a reflexive action is.
It's very common to think that in Spanish, every verb that takes a pronoun (me/te/se/nos/os/se) is a reflexive one. This is certainly an inaccurate idea, which, I think, would be convenient to get rid of for a better understanding of the Spanish language. On the other hand, it's fair to say that many actions usually not associated with reflexivity (decir, tocar, besar, cantar, escribir) can be turned into reflexive if I do them to myself.
There are thousands and thousands of Spanish verbs that are pronominal, but not reflexive. Some examples are:
Me llamo cogumela - My name is cogumela
Me he dedicidido a poner este hilo- I've finally decided to post this thread
Me imagino que lo encontraréis útil- I guess you will find it to be useful
The aim of this game is:
1.Find a pronominal verb that you like in Spanish and make sure you understand its meaning.
2.Post a sentence using the proper pronominal construction. Warning: Your sentence mustn't be reflexive in any case!!!, so check that the subject does not perform the action to himself.
Careful if you are using a "Se" pronoun. In this case, double-check to make sure that you are not using passive with "Se", nor reciprocal "Se", nor impersonal "Se".
3.If you can, tell us what's the difference between the pronominal verb you're using and the respective one that doesn't take the pronoun.
4.Post the English translation, and pictures if you want. (If your translation includes the words myself, yourself, ourselves.. likely, you'll be sent to the dunce corner for awhile) 
5.Have fun!!!
54 Answers
Se puso muy enojado cuando se dio cuenta de que se le olvidaron los numeros.
He became very angry when he realized that the numbers slipped his mind.
Se puso - pronominal. Ponerse: to become.
Se dio cuenta de: pronominal. Darse cuenta de: to realize/ to become aware of.
Se le olvidaron: pronominal (accidental se construction). Olvidarse: to forget.
Temerse- to be afraid, to suspect, to believe
Me temo que no vendrá- I'm afraid that he won't come, I suspect that he might not come
Me temo que va a llover - I'm afraid (I believe) it's going to rain.
Temer- to be afraid of, feeling fear
Mis enemigos me temen - My enemies are afraid of me
Les temo a los perros / Temo a los perros Me temo a los perros- I’m afraid of dogs
Transitive levantar: to lift something.
Ella Levantó el libro - she lifted the book.
Pronominal reflexive levantarse: to get up (in the morning)
Me levanto a las siete - I get up at seven.
Pronominal levantarse: to rise/ to stand.
La torre se levanta por encima de los demás edificios: the tower rises/stands above the other buildings.
@Annie:
Mi casa está en venta pero no se vende.
Tricky!
It's normal to be confused. SE has a lot of meanings in Spanish.
That's reflexive?
No, this sentence is not reflexive because the house does not sell itself. The house does not perform any action on itself.
To ilustrate how tricky this can be, I will tell you that the first time I read your sentence, this is what my mind read:
My house is for sale, but it's not for sale.
Mi casa está en venta pero no se vende
this is a perfect example of impersonal SE, but obviously, it gives us a perfect nonsensical sentence, so my mind said: Huh!?, and it reinterpretated the sentence to:
Mi house is for sale, but it is not (easily) sold.
I don't manage to sell it, to sell it is not easy, I can't find a buyer
This is another possible interpretation of the same sentence, and it seems to me that it makes more sense this way. In this case, the SE is the sign of a passive sentence with se, which would be equivalent to:
Mi casa está en venta, pero no es vendida (fácilmente). (No es vendida = No se vende, no consigo venderla)
Neither of these se really belongs to the verb. The verb you used in this sentence is just: Vender.
Anyway, this one seems to be designed for being tricky, don't worry.
Parecerse a - to take after
Aunque tiene los ojos azules de su madre, se parece más a su padre.
Even though he has his mother’s blue eyes, he takes after his father more.
Parecer- to look, to look like, to seem
Parecen simpáticos- They seem nice
Esforzarse = to make an effort, to strive
Se esfuerza por aprender español - He makes an effort to learn Spanish
It can be followed by several prepositions: se esfuerza en, se esfuerza para
Esfuerza por aprender español
The verb esforzar is so unusual that it's really hard to think of an example to give. I decided not to do it, it would be useless. I don't think I have used this verb in all my life. In many cases, it's synonym of forzar.
Asomarse a = lo lean out of, to have a look out
Si me asomo a la ventana, veo el cielo lleno de estrellas
If I look out the window, I can see the sky full of stars.
Si asomo a la ventana
The non-pronominal form slightly changes the meaning
Asomar = to show, to stick out from
Me voy.
English: I'm heading for Dunce's Corner
Probably 'me voy a dunce's corner'. I only put it there because people say it all the tiem, yet IR is not reflexive. (Surely?)
Kindly just delete and send me to the Island of Apoya, if necessary, I can't be the only person wondering about this. Sorry about this cogumela, at least it will get the ball rolling for more advanced students. I realize I'm being dim.
Don't use reflexive verbs like these
Mi vecino lava su coche dos veces cada semana.
My neighbor washes his car two times every week.
lavar - to wash, pronomial verb, not reflexive
lavarse - reflexive
Me lavo los dientes tres veces cada día.
I brush my teeth three times a day.
Tirarse de - to jump from
A mí me gusta tirarme del trampolín al agua.
I like to jump into water from a springboard.
Inspired by Juanes: fíjate bien
Fijarse: to pay attention, to watch carefully
¡Fíjate bien dónde pisas!- Mind where you tread
Fijar: to fix
Reírse de algo - to laugh 'at' something / make fun of something
No me gusta que te rías de mí
Reírse - to laugh, difficult to put your finger on the difference between reírse and reír, any info gratefully accepted
Me reí mucho en la película.
Mi hermana se estaba riendo a carcajadas
Reír - to laugh
No me puedo controlar de reir.
(Es) Mejor reír que llorar.
@Billy:
Don't worry, Billy. The thing is: to be afraid both in English and Spanish, can be used in two senses:
1- to feel fear of something, to be frightened by something- I'm afraid of snakes
In this sense - you would use the non-pronominal version in Spanish: temer , that is:
Les temo a las serpientes, or temo a las serpientes. Me temo a las serpientes
2- to suspect, or to believe something- To be afraid (that) [clause]
I'm afraid (that) I won't be able to explain myself.
Me temo que no seré capaz de explicarme.
In Spanish, you would use the pronominal version for this second meaning: temerse (que). And, like in English, it usually takes a clause to express what you think. Here, although you use the word "afraid", you don't really fear of anything, this is just a polite way to express : I think that, it seems to me that...
I can't understand whether the pronominal version (ie temerse) should be used after the conjunction 'que'.
Yes! Normally, temerse will be followed by que, when trying to express "I'm afraid (that)....". On the contrary, temer can be followed by a, when it means "to be afraid of": les temo a las arañas, by an infinitive:temo enfermar, or by que: temo que enfermes.
is there a rule when the 'se' should be used?
Sense 1- Use "temer"
Sense 2- Use "temerse que"
I've been looking at lots of example sentences on another website 123 Spanish, Shouldn't there either be a 'me' in both or none of them?
From 123 Spanish: Yo temía que él la rompiera
Actually, this sentence sounds a bit clumsy, 
It means that you actually were scared by the prospect of... In other words- Tenía miedo de que lo rompiera (subjunctive)
But, if you wanted to express: I thought he would break it, then --> Me temía que la rompería / Me temía que la iba a romper/ Creí que la iba a romper (indicative)
also Yo temía que él la rompiera. is subjunctive. What is the difference between this and your sentence Me temo que no vendrá- which is indicative?
We use indicative to declare. A declaration is something that you think, something that you believe. Since "Me temía que" is equivalent "I thought that", it must be followed by the indicative, because what you think is = declaration.
Me temo que ... (indicative clause)
Temo que, on the other hand, is not an equivalent of "I believe", and it usually takes the subjunctive:
Juana teme que su madre padezca de diabetes.
Juana fears that her mother will suffer from diabetes.
Disclaimer: languages are flexible, so don't take this as a perfect and infallible rule.
La leche se convierte en el queso después del proceso de fermentación.
Milk turns into cheese after the process of fermentation.
Cansarse de = to get tired.
I tire myself of
Me canso de subir tantas escaleras - I get tired of going up so many stairs
Canso de subir...
Cansar = to be tiring
Subir escaleras cansa a cualquiera - Going up stairs is tiring for anyone
