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Verbos ReflexivosSpanish Reflexive Verb ConjugationMoving on with reflexive conjugation, we'll try conjugating the Spanish verb "Bañarse" which means "to bathe (oneself)"
Remember that you drop the "se" to conjugate. The verb endings are the same as those in present tense, the difference is that here we add the "reflexive pronouns". Now we'll look at one more concept, then have a practice session. Before learning this concept, we need to learn a few new Spanish words.
Now on to our new concept. This is one of those things that they simply do differently in Spanish that you just have to learn. The way they do it may sound strange at first, but you have to realize that the way we say certain things in English also sound strange to a Spanish speaker at first. It has to do with things that you do to yourself. Here's how it works:
I realize that this is a new concept and it sounds very different from what you're used to, but it's simply the way it's done in Spanish. The next lesson will review this concept and help you practice it. Spanish Practice SessionNow, let's have a verbal quiz. We'll practice a few verbs that use this concept, then a few plain reflexive verbs. Are you ready?
Now we'll take a look at some unique cases with reflexive verbs. Remember, we learned that some verbs can be reflexive or not reflexive. For example, the phrase "I look at the cars" or "Miro los carros" is not reflexive" but the phrase "I look at myself" or "Me miro" is reflexive because the subject is repeated twice. Now, if we take that idea a little farther, a few reflexive verbs can actually change meaning depending on whether they are used as reflexive verbs or not. For example, the word "Levanto" means "I lift" and, used as a reflexive, "Me levanto" means "I get up" as in "to get up out of bed". Another example is the verb "arreglar". "Yo arreglo" means "I fix" and, as a reflexive, "Me arreglo" means "I get (myself) ready". Take a look at the following chart of verbs that can change meaning when changed from non-reflexive to reflexive. You don't need to memorize all of these right now, but just know that they exist. After you see them all, click the "Next" button when you are ready to continue.
Some verbs are always reflexive no matter what. A verb that does this is "quejarse" which means "to complain". It is "always" used as a reflexive verb. Let's try a few sentences with "quejarse" so you can see how it works.
Now let's take a look at a couple more verbs before going continuing on to our practice session. The first one is "preocuparse" which means "to worry". If I say, "to worry about", I would say, "preocuparse por". Usually the word "about" in Spanish is "de". This case is an exception where "por" takes the place of "de".
Now we'll look at two more verbs that require extra words called prepositions on the end. Prepositions are words like about, with, for, in, upon and so forth. With the verb "to forget", if you add another word on after, you need to add the Spanish word "de" which means "of" "from" or "about".
Now, for the last unique case before the practice session. In English, when we talk about marrying someone, we say "She is getting married to him." But in Spanish, we say "She is getting married with him" or "Ella se casa con él".
As you go on to the next practice session, see if you can pick out the special cases we talked about in this lesson. Practice SessionKeep these concepts in mind as we have our next practice session. A few of the verbs fit into the concepts we just covered. See if you can pick out which ones do:
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