Reflective verbs
Please explain reflexive verbs please in english
3 Answers
I blogged about this, you might find it helpful. I tried to explain reflexive verbs without too much grammar double talk.
Although the majority of Spanish grammar books and teachers will use the term reflexive verbs this really is a bit of a misnomer.
The correct term for verbs that appear with a pronoun attached is 'pronominal'.
Eg. comerse, irse, bañarse, ducharse etc.
Now these pronominal verbs can be used in a number of ways one of them being 'reflexively'.
me duché = I had a shower, is an example of a pronominal verb being used reflexively. Ie. the person doing the action of the verb is also receiving the action of the verb.
I'm the one doing the showering and I'm the one being showered.
se comió = (s/he) ate it all up, on the other hand is an example of a pronominal verb being used in a different way as a kind of emphatic construction.
nos besamos = we kiss each other, here the pronominal verb form besarse is being used in a reciprocal construction.
So the important thing to remember is that to express a reflexive action you need to use a pronominal verb. Reflexive constructions simply show that the verbs action is reflected back on the doer of the action. But as you can see pronominal verbs are not limited to reflexive actions.
What is a Reflexive Verb?
A verb is said to be reflexive when the person performing the action (action means - to wash, to shave, to shower) and the person upon whom the action is performed is the same person (doing something to oneself).
If we look to a dictionary definition of a reflexive verb, we can find it in The Royal Spanish Academy’s (Commonly referred to as RAE) Dictionary of the Spanish Language (Commonly referresd to as DRAE) where we can find:
First, we need to look to “pronominal verb.” A pronominal is a verb having in all its forms an an unstressed pronoun which agrees with the subject of the verb but which pronoun does not perform any syntactic function in the sentence in which it appears. Some verbs are exclusively pronominal, like the verb “to repent”. Others adopt certain significant or expressive nuances in reflexive forms, like the verbs “to fall” (caer) or “to die” (morir). When you refer to the DRAE, you will observe that the three referenced verb ‘repent’, ‘fall’ and ‘die’ in their pronominal and reflexive form are ‘arrepentirse’, ‘caerse’ and ‘morirse.’ In each case a clitic, “se” has been added to the verb infinitive. Think of a clitic as an unstressed word, typically a function word, that is incapable of standing on its own and attaches in pronunciation to a stressed word, with which it forms a single accentual unit.
See DRAE @ Pronominal Verbo
Second, as to “reflexive verbs” it is in that interesting last sentence of the first definition that we come to deal with what language learning courses refer to as “reflexive verbs.” Again, in DRAE, we find this definition of a reflexive verb. A verb constructed with an unstressed reflexive pronoun like “You comb yourself”.
See DRAE @ ReflexivoVerbo
There you have it! In short and strictly speaking, reflexive verbs can be seen as a subset of pronominal verbs. This sets the stage to narrow our discussion of reflexive verbs only to that subset without having to deal with all the other complexity of the entire family of pronominal verbs.
A verb is said to be reflexive when the person performing the action and the person upon whom the action is performed is the same person.
Here are some examples:
If a barber shaves a customer, the verb used is "afeitar" (to shave). However, if I shave myself, the verb to use is "afeitarse" (to shave oneself).
If a mother washes her child, the verb to use is "lavar" (to wash) or perhaps "bañar" to bathe. However, if she cleans herself the verb to use would be "lavarse" (to wash oneself), or "bañarse" (to bathe oneself).
The verbs "afeitarse", "lavarse" and "bañarse" are reflexive verbs. This is because the person performing the action is also the recipient (some say the object or subject) of the action.
For a more complete understanding of reflexive verbs, SpanishDict has the following instructional material:
Reference Page ---->; Reflexive Verbs (less than 5 minutes) and
Lesson Video ---->; Reflexive Verbs & Morning Routine (Perhaps twenty minutes).
These learning materials will go a long way to helping you understand Reflexive verbs.
If you would like to see what other online Spanish Language learning web sites have to say about reflexive verbs, here are some other references for you. Sometimes referring to the same thing by another writer can help to make a topic come into focus.
Here is what "StudySpanish.com" has to say ----> Reflexive Verbs Be sure to see both Part I and Part II
Here is what "Spanish.About.com" has to say ----> Introduction to Reflexive Verbs.
Muchos saludos/Best regards
Moe
