Reflexive Verbs... Driving to the store...

Question

I loosely understand the basic premise of reflexive verbs, but sometimes that leads me into misuse. For example, let's say I am driving myself to the grocery store, or to school. Are these reflexive situations?

Yo me manejo al supermercado. or Yo me manejo a la escuela.

Or is it more correct to omit the "me"

Gracias!

Answer 1

You're not driving yourself, you're driving a car. Reflexives are used when the verb is literally acting upon the person's body. You could find a way to use the reflexive when talking about driving, as in Me llevo a mí mismo a la tienda. (I take myself to the store). With this verb, the action IS happening to the person doing it.

Thanks for that clarification... that clears some muddy waters for me. - Cervezafria, Sep 9, 2013

Answer 2

As I continue learning, I do hear native speakers use the reflexive in ways that textbooks say you shouldn't, like "Me como el cereal". I haven't reached the conclusion that this is correct, but it is used a lot. I tell my students that it's like your great grandma saying something like "Go eat yourself some stew" or something along those lines.

Also, remember that "me" is also a direct object and an indirect object and without dissecting the sentence, it can be hard to automatically identify what role the "me" is playing. The general rule, though, is if the verb is in the Yo form, then the me is a reflexive pronoun.

Going back to your original question, if you wanted to communicate that you are indeed the driver (manejar kind of does that on it's own) the conversation might look like this:

-Yo manejo a la escuela. -Quieres decir que tu padre te lleva, verdad? -No, yo mismo manejo el carro. Yo sé manejar. -aaah, excelente.¡Genial!