The Reflexive Construction Flashcards
What is the reflexive construction?
It is the combination of:
a reflexive pronoun + reflexive verb
What is a reflexive verb?
A reflexive verb indicates that the subject (the performer of the action) and the object (the receiver of the action) is the same.
Think about youself looking in the mirror. You see your own reflection.
a) Reflexive:
I put on my jacket.
b) Non-reflexive:
I put the jacket in the closet.
I put the jacket on my little brother.
What are the reflexive pronouns?
yo me
tú te
ud., él, ella se
nosotros or nosotras nos
uds., ellos, ellas se
How do I recognize a reflexive verb?
There are two ways to recognize reflexive verbs:
1- the verb ends in se > cepillarse
- it belongs to one of the following groups:
a) personal hygiene
* ducharse, lavarse, afeitarse*
b) daily routines
* vestirse, acostarse, levantarse*
c) reciprocal actions
* escribirse, hablarse, pintarse*
- it belongs to one of the following groups:
Give a quick summary of what you have learned so far about reflexive verbs.
1- Use reflexive verbs to indicate that the performer of the action is also the one receiving that action of the verb.
2- Each subject pronoun has its own reflexive pronoun.
3- A reflexive verb ends in se. So, when I come accross a verb ending is se, I have to use the reflexive pronouns.
4- Reflexive verbs belong in one of three categories:
personal hygiene, daily routines, reciprocal actions.
Can you give examples for:
a) personal hygiene verbs
b) daily routine verb
c) reciprocal action verbs
a) personal hygiene
afeitarse, bañarse, cepillarse los dientes, ducharse
lavarse, secarse, peinarse, cepillarse el pelo
b) daily routines
acostarse, arreglarse, cortarse las uñas,
cortarse el pelo, vestirse, ponerse, despertarse
levantarse, pintarse, prepararse, vestirse,
c) reciprocal actions
hablarse, escribirse
Reflexives apply to any verb tense. That is reflexive verbs conjugate in the present, the imperfect, the preterit (the past), the future, and compound tenses.
For the purpose of this lesson, you need to review the conjugations for the present tense. What are they?
1) -ar ending verbs
- o, -as, -a, -amos, -an
2) -er ending verbs
- o, -es, -e, -emos, -en
3) -ir ending verbs
- o, -es, -e, -imos, -en
Conjugate ducharse
Ducharse is an -ar ending verb. Notice the bold and underlined coded changes on the reverse card.
Yo me ducho
Tú te duchas
Ud., él, ella se ducha
Nosotros or nosotras nos duchamos
Uds., ellos, ellas se duchan
What is so particular about
acostarse, despertarse, vestirse?
These are stem changing reflexive verbs.
Their stems change accordingly:
1) acostarse > o to ue (all forms except nosotros, -as)
2) despertarse > e to ie (all forms except nosotros, -as)
3) vestirse > e to i (all forms except nosotros, -as)
How would you conjugate
acostarse?
Yo me acuesto
Tú te acuestas
Ud., él, ella se acuesta
Nosotros or nosotras nos acostamos
Uds., ellos, ellas se acuestan
How would you conjugate
despertarse?
Yo me despierto
Tú te despiertas
Ud., él, ella se despierta
Nosotros or nosotras nos despertamos
Uds., ellos, ellas se despiertan
How would you conjugate
vestirse
Yo me visto
Tú te vistes
Ud., él, ella se viste
Nosotros or nosotras nos vestimos
Uds., ellos, ellas se visten
What is the placement of the reflexive pronoun?
The placement of the reflexive pronoun is as follows:
1) if you only have one verb in the sentence, it goes
before the conjugated verb.
Pancho se afeita.
2) if you’re using an infinitive, you have two options:
a) before the first conjugated verb
Pancho se** quiere afeit**ar.
b) attached to the infinitive
Pancho quiere afeit_arse_