Verbos Reflexivos
How to conjugate Spanish reflexive verbs in present tense
A reflexive verb in Spanish has "se" attached to its infinitive. For example:
levantarse (to get up)
afeitarse (to shave)
llamarse (to be called)
are examples of reflexive verbs. Their structures indicate how a reflexive verb looks like in Spanish:
stem of the verb + infinitive ending + se |
For example, let us take the verb levantarse, the stem of this verb is "levant", the infinitive ending is "ar" and as all other reflexive verbs, "se" is attached to the infinitive.
Se is called reflexive pronoun. To conjugate a reflexive verb in present you need to change the pronoun "se" in accordance with the subject pronoun:
| (yo) | me |
| (tú) | te |
| (él/ella/usted) | se |
| (nosotros/nosotras) | nos |
| (vosotros/vosotras) | os |
| (ellos/ellas/ustedes) | se |
Note that se does not change for él, ella, usted, ellos, ellas, ustedes.
Ok then, how to conjugate levantarse?
Just take the correct form of the reflexive pronoun which is given in the table above and conjugate "levantar" as if you would conjugate any verb in present tense. If it is regular apply the rules for regular Spanish verbs, if it is a stem-changing verb learn which part of the stem you should change.
As an example levantarse is conjugated as
| levantarse | ||
| yo | me | levanto |
| tú | te | levantas |
| él/ella/usted | se | levanta |
| nosotros/nosotras | nos | levantamos |
| vosotros/vosotras | os | levantáis |
| ellos/ellas/ustedes | se | levantan |
As always in Spanish subject pronouns (yo, tú … ) are rarely used, only when you need to emphasize something or to avoid a misunderstanding. In other words, you can say "yo me levanto", but it is more common to say just "me levanto".
You should also be aware of the fact that many reflexive verbs have non-reflexive versions. For example: lavarse means to wash oneself and lavar means to wash.
Most of the time you can translate a reflexive verb as "… -self", as in the case of lavarse. On the other hand, there are many exceptions. Better get in the habit of learning the new Spanish verbs with their infinitive form then you will know if it is reflexive and you will be able to conjugate them perfectly.