Spanish 4.4. Reflexive Pronouns & Verbs

A verb in Spanish is reflexive if the subject and the object are the same. This means that the subject is doing the action to itself, not to something or someone else. For instance, “I wash myself” is reflexive, while “I wash my car” is not reflexive.

Some verbs in Spanish are common in the reflexive form. Let us take one example that we are familiar with.

The verb “llamar” means “to call,” e.g., “Mi mamá me llama todos los viernes” (My mom calls me every Friday).

However, the reflexive form of the verb “llamarse,” which literally means “to call oneself,” is used to express one’s name. For instance, “Me llamo Carlos” means “My name is Carlos,” which is literally “I call myself Carlos.”

Conjugation

There are many verbs in Spanish that have reflexive forms. We will discuss some examples; however, let us first learn how to conjugate reflexive verbs.

	Object Personal Pron.	e.g., llamar
yo	me	llamo
tú	te	llamas
él/ella/usted	se	llama
nosotros/-as	nos	llamamos
vosotros/-as	os	llamáis
ellos/ellas/ustedes	se	llaman

As shown in the table, we add the object personal pronoun before the verb. Note that the subject and object personal pronouns are of the same gender and number because the subject and the object are essentially the same.

Examples of Reflexive Verbs

When the verb is used in reflexive form, the infinitive ends in “se,” e.g., “llamarse.” Here are more examples of reflexive verbs.

abrigarse	to bundleup	aburrirse	to get bored
afeitarse	to shave	alegrarse (de)	to be glad (about)
bañarse	to take a bath	cansarse	to get tired
cuidarse	to take care of oneself	disgustarse (de)	to become upset (about)
despertarse	to wake up	divertirse	to have fun
distraerse	to distract oneself	enamorarse	to fall in love
emborracharse	to get drunk	fijarse en	to take notice of
enojarse (con)	to get mad (at)	levantarse	to get up
lavarse	to wash oneself	olvidarse	to forget
maquillarse	to put on makeup	quedarse	to stay
peinarse	to comb one’s hair	reponerse	to get well or to recover
sentarse	to sit down	sentirse	to feel
subirse	to get up	torcerse	to twist or sprain
vestirse	to get dressed	volverse	to become

Let us look at some examples in context:

Bañarse en la tina es relajante.	Bathing in the tub is relaxing.
Me aburro rápido en casa.	I get bored fast at home.
Ella siempre se despierta temprano.	She always wakes up early.
Ayer nos divertimos mucho.	We had a lot of fun yesterday.

One can add the reflexive pronoun to verbs that are not regularly reflexive to make them reflexive, for example:

hablarse	to speak to oneself	verse	to see oneself
escribirse	to write to oneself	comprarse	to buy for oneself
compararse	to compare oneself	escucharse	to listen to oneself

Some verbs are used only in reflexive form, for example:

arrepentirse	to repent	atreverse a	to dare
darse cuenta de	to realize	jactarse de	to boast
quejarse de	to complain about	suicidarse	to commit suicide

Change of Meaning

Some verbs change their meaning when they appear in the reflexive form, for example:

aburrir	to bore	aburrirse	to get bored
acordar	to agree	acordarse	to remember
acostar	to lay down or put to bed	acostarse	to lie down or go to bed
casar	to join in marriage	casarse con	to get married to
despedir	to fire or dismiss	despedirse	to say goodbye
dormir	to sleep	dormirse	to fall asleep
ir	to go	irse	to leave or go away
morir	to die from a sudden event, such as war or accident	morirse	to die from natural causes or die figuratively (e.g., of love)
negar	to deny	negarse	to refuse
parecer	to seem	parecerse	to resemble
poner	to put	ponerse	to put on
probar	to try or to taste	probarse	to try on
quitar	to take away	quitarse	to take off (shoes, clothes, etc.)

Some verbs do not change their meaning but imply emphasis when used in the reflexive form. These cases are hard to translate into English.

comer	to eat	Quiero comer esta torta.	I want to eat this cake.
comerse	to eat up or devour	Quiero comerme esta torta.	I want to eat up this cake.

The verb “Quedar” and its reflexive form “Quedarse”

The verb “quedar” and its reflexive form, “quedarse,” are very common verbs in Spanish and can have different meanings depending on the context. We will cover some of the possible meanings of both verbs.

Uses of “Quedar”

The following are some of the most common meanings of the verb “quedar” with examples:

Meaning	Examples
to remain or to be left	¿Queda comida para mañana? Is there any food left for tomorrow?	Solo quedan dos asientos. Only two seats are left.
to be located	¿Dónde queda tu oficina? Where is your office?	Perú queda en América del Sur. Peru is located in South America.
to meet or to plan to meet	¿Dónde quedamos hoy? Where shall we meet today?	Quedaré con un cliente mañana. I will meet with a client tomorrow.
to suit or to fit	Te quedan bien estos zapatos. These shoes fit you well.	Ya no me queda esta camisa. This shirt doesn’t fit me anymore.
to finish (competition)	Quedarán últimos en el grupo. They will finish last in the group.	Quedó segundo en la carrera. He finished second in the race.
to become [1] or to end up	Quedó huérfano hace 5 años. He became an orphan 5 years ago.	Quedé cansado después del viaje. I ended up tired after the trip.
to appear or look	No quiero quedar como un idiota. I don’t want to look like an idiot.	Lo ayudó y quedó como un héroe. He helped him and looked like a hero.

Uses of “Quedarse”

On the other hand, here are two common meanings of the reflexive verb “quedarse” in different contexts:

Meaning	Examples
to stay	Me quedé con mi mamá ayer. I stayed with my mom yesterday.	Nos quedaremos en el hotel. We will stay in the hotel.
to keep	Puede quedarse con el cambio. You can keep the change.	Me lo quedaré como recuerdo. I will keep it as a souvenir.

In addition, “quedar” and “quedarse” can have different meanings when used in some common idioms in Spanish.

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[1] There are many verbs in Spanish that translate to “to become.” We cover these verbs of change in more detail in Level VI, Lesson 6.

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