I'm so confused about reflexive verbs

Question

I have a huge amount of trouble with reflexive verbs. I get confused about knowing when to put me, te, se, nos, and se in front of the verb, or after the verb.. can someone kind of clear this up? Thanks!

Answer 1

I was having trouble with it too. I went to you-tube and searched for more spanish videos on reflexive verbs and watched a couple , and then tried to come up with sentences about things I do to myself ( shower, brush my hair, dress myself, etc..) and things others in my house do to themselves a as well.

I wash my hair. - Me lavo el pelo. Skylar washes her hair. - Skylar se lava el pelo. Cory washes his hair. - Cory se lava el pelo. My daughters wash thier hair.- Mis hijas se lavan el pelo.

Hope this will help you.

Good answer. - --Mariana--, Oct 26, 2011

Answer 2

We all have trouble at first, so don't worry.

Take a look at this article about Reflexive Verbs.

great, thanks :D - a_little_music_lady, Oct 26, 2011

Answer 3

I have a huge amount of trouble with reflexive verbs. I get confused about knowing when to put me, te, se, nos, and se in front of the verb, or after the verb.. can someone kind of clear this up? Thanks!

Good questions and very common among English speakers.

"Me", "te", "se", "nos", "vos", "se" refer to "Me""; "you"; "you" (formal), "he", "she", "it"; "we" (us); "you" (plural), and "you, "them", "those".

Reflexive verbs are just that. What do you do to yourself? "Me acuesto" (I go to bed). "Le acuesto" (I put him to bed...not reflexive). "Me llamo Don Bigote" (I call myself Don Bigote). "Le llamo Ricardo"(I call him Ricardo). "¿Cuándo fue que te acostaste?" (When did you go to bed"). "¿Cuándo le acostaste?" (When did you put him to bed?)

Do not confuse reflexive verbs with "gustar" or "gustarle a uno". Instead of thinking "to like", think "to be pleasing to....someone".

A mí me gusta It is pleasing to me A ella le gusta It is pleasing to him/her/it. A ti te gusta It is pleasing to you.

I hope this helps.

very helpful, thank you !! - a_little_music_lady, Oct 26, 2011

Answer 4

You say you have trouble knowing when to put the reflexives before or after the verb. I hope I can help.

The reflexive goes before the verb when that verb is conjugated.

Me lavo el pelo. Te lavas el pelo. Se lava el pelo. nos lavamos el pelo. se lavan el pelo.

The reflexive goes after the verb when the verb is NOT conjugated or is a present participle. Me gusta lavarme el pelo. Estoy lavándome los dientes.

I hope that helped some!

Yes, this helps a lot, thanks ! - a_little_music_lady, Oct 26, 2011

Answer 5

The DRAE (Dictionary) says:

verbo reflexivo.

1 . m. Gram. Tradicionalmente, el que se construye con un pronombre reflexivo átono. Tú te peinas.

The reflexive pronouns ares: me, te, se, nos, os, se.

Kcprus is right, these verbs are normally about things you can do to yourself: wash, shower, bath, comb, brush, look, watch, dress, etc.

I think that the problem arises because in English these verbs are used as transitives:

I wash my hair.

But in Spanish we normally don't say "lavo mi pelo", but "me lavo el pelo".

Of course these verbs can be used as well as transitives in Spanish:

Lavo el coche, lavamos las ventanas, lavaron la ropa.