Reflexive verbs confuse me
I have been trying to wrap my head around this grammar rule for the past few days, but god I can't digest it! So, I read in many places that reflexive verbs mean that the subject and the object are the same and that's why we use reflexive pronominal like "me, te, se etc."
But this is not always the case because if I wanna say "I was you or I call you," I have to say, te llamo or te lavo. Obviously, the object here is not the same as the subject which is "yo or I in English"
Also, what is the closest translation could I do to make it easy to such verbs? I mean something to remember or make it easy to form. If I used the normal pattern, "yo(i) te(you) llamo(call), that doesn't make much sense nor helpful. Is there any other way?
¡Gracias!
Edit: The following are my daily routines to improve: I listen to a podcast called "newsinslowspanish." I don't understand their transcript perfectly but I can guess, with the knowledge I have of some vocabs and their translation, the general idea. I practice with native Spanish speakers as much as I can, but i'm very limited to my vocab of course. I take a verb a day and memorize all of its tenses -- except in the subjunctive mode. I search here and there for more explanation to some complicated grammar rules or words that can be used in multiple sentences with different meaning, ex que.
Is there anything else other than that I can do?
2 Answers
It seems you're confusing two different concepts here. On the one hand there are reflexive verbs which basically signify you're doing something to yourself, for example afeitar (to shave someone) and afeitarse (to shave oneself). On the other hand your example with "yo te llamo" or "I call you" concerns object pronouns which is different from reflexive verbs. The verbs llamar and call are not reflexive in those sentences.
Perhaps the confusion stems from the fact that Spanish (quite devilishly, haha) uses the same or quite similar words for both - e.g. me and te can work as reflexive words, direct object pronouns, indirect object pronouns and probably something else as well.
So. "Me afeito." - I shave myself, reflexive. "Te afeito." - I shave you, not reflexive but using a direct object pronoun to show the receiver of the action. "Te afeitas." - You shave yourself, again reflexive. The conjunction of the verb signifies the doer, in the first two sentences it's both me and in the last sentence it's you. It's reflexive if I'm doing it to me or you're doing it to you. It's not reflexive if I'm doing it to you, in such cases the little word (me, te, etc.) is an object pronoun.
Edit: I can think of a few things I'd do but learning new things is very individual and what works for me might not work for you. Listening to podcasts and practising with native speakers is awesome, this will help you to get used to the different way sentences are formed in Spanish (like pronouns going before the verb for example). Since you're asking specifically about pronouns and their placement, you can check the short articles and videos on reflexive pronouns and direct/indirect object pronouns here at SpanishDict. Make your own notes or tables, one containing reflexive pronouns (me, te, se, nos, os, se), another for the direct object pronouns (me, te, le/la, nos, os, los/las) and yet another for the indirect object pronouns. They are very close but there are some differences and you just have to memorise them. There are also practice quizzes you can try your hand at.
Then you can try and form sentences using reflexive verbs and with "normal" verbs + direct and indirect pronouns, a couple a day as an addition to your verb learning exercise. For example, take the reflexive verb peinarse which means to brush one's hair and try to make the following sentences in Spanish: "I brush my hair in the morning.", "Did you brush your hair?", "She brushed her hair every day." Then take a normal verb and make a few sentences with it, for example dar, to give: "She gave me the cake.", "I will give it to you later.", "You didn't give them the keys." You can always post your translations in the forum for proofreading.
Ultimately it's a combination of understanding and memorising the rules ones way or another, passive knowledge accumulated from listening/reading/talking/being corrected and gradually getting used to another way to express yourself which deviates from English.
Here's my two cents worth.
This is one of the problems:
I have been trying to wrap my head around this grammar rule for the past few days
Sometimes you've got to get out of the grammar books and pay more attention to how things are used day to day.
Force yourself to start using reflexive verbs even if you don't understand the grammar. Just flat out memorize the conjugations if you have to. Learn how to recognize reflexive verbs when you read or hear spoken Spanish. Pay attention to how native speakers do it and mimic them. Eventually through usage you will learn how to use them yourself, and shortly after that the grammar will follow.
Oh yeah, starting speaking and using them yourself, even if you get it wrong. If you don't make mistakes you won't learn.
The other thing is to find better lessons that simplify reflexive verbs.
Look at these links:
Free Reflexive Verbs Lesson:
http://www.spanisheartraining.com/downloads/Spanish Ear Training Bonus Track 4.pdf
**EDIT: I tried making that ^^ a hyperlink but it just won't work
Those lessons are from Marcus SantaMaria. The guys a freaking genius when it comes to simplifying Spanish.
You can get more info about his courses here:
