Teñir vs teñirse

Question

Mucha gente tiñe el cabello cuando le empiezan a salir canas. Many people color their hair when it starts going gray.

I found this example on SpanishDict. Why isn't there a "se" before "tiñe". Teñirse means to dye one's hair, but teñir also means to color hair. When would I use teñir vs teñirse?

Answer 1

"Teñir" means to dye (in general). "Teñirse" means to dye one's hair (specifically).

Meaning that "teñir" can be used when dying anything, and "teñirse" for hair only.

Welcome to SpanishDict. - rac1, Jan 22, 2017

Thanks jgames! - Ramonaspiker, Jan 23, 2017

Answer 2

When people get old, they may want to arrest its symptoms and decide to get their hair dyed. For that reason "teñir". If the hair studio, or whatever you call it, does it, it's "teñir". If the victim of fossilization does it him or herself, it's "teñirse". "Victim"....Jaja, Me muero de risa. Ah, other stuff happens too.

I have to say that in my barrio we had a librarian who worked there at the same library for 82 years. The public library, this branch now has her name, and rightfuly so. - DonBigoteDeLaLancha, Jan 23, 2017