Reflexive Verbs

A reflexive verb describes an action the subject does to itself. In English we rarely say "I wash myself" — we just say "I wash" — but Spanish makes the reflexive explicit with a reflexive pronoun.

You can spot a reflexive verb in the dictionary because its infinitive ends in -se:

• levantarse — to get (oneself) up
• ducharse — to shower
• llamarse — to be called (literally "to call oneself")

Compare a normal verb with its reflexive partner:

Non-reflexive	Reflexive
lavar — to wash (something)	lavarse — to wash (oneself)
despertar — to wake (someone)	despertarse — to wake up
llamar — to call	llamarse — to be called

So lavo el coche means I wash the car, but me lavo means I wash (myself).

To conjugate a reflexive verb you need two things: the reflexive pronoun (matching the subject) and the normal verb ending. There are six pronouns.

Person	Pronoun	Meaning
yo	me	myself
tú	te	yourself
él/ella/usted	se	himself/herself/yourself
nosotros/as	nos	ourselves
vosotros/as	os	yourselves
ellos/ellas/ustedes	se	themselves/yourselves

The pronoun must match the subject. You cannot say me ducha — if the subject is él, both parts change to se ducha.

Drop the -se from the infinitive, conjugate the verb as normal, and place the matching pronoun in front. Here is levantarse (to get up), a regular -ar verb:

Person	Pronoun + verb	Meaning
yo	me levanto	I get up
tú	te levantas	you get up
él/ella/usted	se levanta	he/she gets up
nosotros/as	nos levantamos	we get up
vosotros/as	os levantáis	you all get up
ellos/ellas/ustedes	se levantan	they get up

Worked examples:

• Me llamo Ana. — My name is Ana (I call myself Ana).
• ¿A qué hora te levantas? — What time do you get up?
• Mis padres se acuestan tarde. — My parents go to bed late.

The pronoun's position depends on the form of the verb.

With a conjugated verb, the pronoun goes immediately before it:

• Me ducho por la mañana. — I shower in the morning.
• No se afeita. — He doesn't shave.

With an infinitive or a gerund, the pronoun can attach to the end, or sit before the first verb. Both are correct:

Attached to the end	Before the first verb
Voy a ducharme.	Me voy a duchar.
Quiero levantarme.	Me quiero levantar.
Estoy vistiéndome.	Me estoy vistiendo.

When you attach the pronoun to a gerund, add a written accent to keep the stress: duchándome, vistiéndose.

Reflexive verbs are the backbone of describing a daily routine (la rutina diaria), a common speaking and writing topic. Several of them are also stem-changing, so the vowel changes just as it would in a normal boot verb.

Infinitive	Change	yo form
despertarse (to wake up)	e→ie	me despierto
acostarse (to go to bed)	o→ue	me acuesto
vestirse (to get dressed)	e→i	me visto
ducharse (to shower)	none	me ducho
peinarse (to comb one's hair)	none	me peino

Worked example — a routine:

Me despierto a las siete, me ducho y me visto. Luego desayuno. Por la noche me acuesto a las once. — I wake up at seven, I shower and I get dressed. Then I have breakfast. At night I go to bed at eleven.

Notice the pronoun changes to se in every stem-changing form for él/ella: se despierta, se acuesta, se viste.

In the plural, reflexive verbs can mean the subjects act on each other — this is the reciprocal use. The form is identical to the reflexive; context makes the meaning clear.

(Higher tier) The plural reflexive pronouns nos and os and the reciprocal use are Higher-tier content. Foundation students focus on the singular reflexive (me, te, se).

Reflexive meaning	Reciprocal meaning
Se miran en el espejo. — They look at themselves in the mirror.	Se miran. — They look at each other.
—	Nos escribimos todos los días. — We write to each other every day.
—	Se quieren mucho. — They love each other a lot.

Worked examples:

• Mis amigos y yo nos ayudamos. — My friends and I help each other.
• Los novios se abrazan. — The couple hug each other.

1. Forgetting the pronoun

Levanto a las siete is wrong — levantar on its own means "to lift". You need me levanto to say "I get up". Dropping the reflexive pronoun changes or breaks the meaning.

2. Not matching the pronoun to the subject

The pronoun must agree with the subject: ella se ducha, not ella me ducha. Both the pronoun and the verb ending change together.

3. Placing the pronoun after a conjugated verb

You cannot write ducho me or levanta se with a plain conjugated verb. The pronoun goes before it: me ducho. Attaching it to the end is only allowed with infinitives, gerunds and affirmative commands.

4. Missing the accent on an attached gerund

When the pronoun attaches to a gerund, the stress must be preserved with an accent: lavándose, vistiéndome. Writing lavandose loses the correct stress.

5. Forgetting the stem change

Acostarse is me acuesto, not me acosto; despertarse is me despierto, not me desperto. Reflexive verbs still follow their stem-change pattern.