Transcript Se - Mr-Miller.com

Unidad Dos
Reflexive verbs
• In Spanish II you learned how to conjugate reflexive
verbs. In this lesson, you will review the conjugation
of reflexive verbs and learn some additional ways to
use reflexives.
• In Spanish, whenever you perform an action on
yourself instead of on someone else you should make
the verb reflexive.
• For example; We get dressed.
(Reflexive - We dress ourselves.)
John takes a bath.
(Reflexive - He bathes himself.)
She washes the dishes.
(Not reflexive – She didn’t wash herself
she washed the dishes)
To make a verb reflexive you need to use a reflexive
pronoun. The reflexive pronouns are;
Reflexive
pronoun
English translation
ME myself
Use with this subject
I
TE yourself inf.
You inf.
SE himself, herself,
He, She, You for., (it)
yourself for., (itself)
NOS ourselves
We
OS yourselves inf. pl.
You inf. pl.
SE themselves,
They,
You for. pl.
yourselves for. pl.
It’s easy to tell when a verb is reflexive by looking
at the verb in a dictionary. You’ll notice that the
reflexive pronoun se is attached to the end of the
verb. Unconjugated reflexive verbs are always
written this way.
For example; bañarse – to take a bath
Base verb
Reflexive Pronoun
To conjugate a reflexive verb, first remove the reflexive
pronoun se from the end of the verb and place it
upfront. Next, change se to match the subject. (Refer to
the previous chart if you’ve forgotten the pronouns)
Finally, conjugate the verb as you usually would.
For example;
Se
Bañarse
Bañar
Me
baño
ITo
take
a bath
bathe
1. Move se
upfront.
2. Now change se
to match the subject
– in this case Yo –
and conjugate the
verb.
ER and IR verbs work the same way as AR verbs
do.
For example;
Ponerse
Se Poner
Nos
ponemos
We
puton
on
To put
1. Move se
upfront
2. Now change se
to match the subject
and conjugate the
verb.
Here’s an example for each verb type.
Subject
Casarse
to get married
Atreverse
to dare
Aburrirse
to get bored
Yo
Me caso
I get married
Me atrevo
I dare
Me aburro
I get bored
Tú
Te casas
You (inf) get married
Te atreves
You (inf) dare
Te aburres
You (inf) get bored
Él, Ella,
Usted
Se casa
He/She gets married
You (for) get married
Se atreve
He/She dares
You (for) dare
Se aburre
He/She gets bored
You (for) get bored
Nosotros
Nos casamos
We get married
Nos atrevemos
We dare
Nos aburrimos
We get bored
Vosotros
Os casáis
You (inf pl) get married
Os atrevéis
You (inf pl) dare
Os aburrís
You (inf pl) get bored
Ellos, Ellas,
Ustedes
Se casan
They get married
You (for pl) get married
Se atreven
They dare
You (for pl) dare
Se aburren
They get bored
You (for pl) get bored
Now you try it! On a piece of paper, or
in your head, translate the following and
then click for the correct answer.
He is shaving. (Afeitarse)
Él se afeita.
I comb my hair. (Peinarse)
Yo me peino.
We take a bath. (Bañarse)
Nosotros nos bañamos.
You (inf) put on the hat. (Ponerse el sombrero)
Tú te pones el sombrero.
Details
• Almost any verb can be made reflexive. For example;
lavar = to wash, lavarse = to wash yourself
• Some verbs change meaning when used reflexively. For example;
Dormir = to sleep, dormirse = to fall asleep
Ir = to go, irse = to go away (to leave)
• When you use a reflexive verb with a 2nd unconjugated verb, you
may either attach the pronoun to the end of the second verb, or you
may place it before the first verb. Both ways are correct, but many
Spanish speakers prefer to attach the pronoun. For example;
I want to take a bath. =
Yo me quiero bañar OR Yo quiero bañarme
Attached to 2nd
unconjugated verb.
Placed before 1st
conjugated verb.
Other uses of the Reflexive
• Reflexives may be used to show emphasis.
Who took it? John took it. Juan se lo llevó.
• Reflexives are often used impersonally, as when no specific
subject is stated. For instance, “It is said…” or “They say that…”
could be translated as “Se dice…”. Or, “The key was lost.” as “Se
perdió la llave.” since we don’t know who lost the key.
• Reflexives are often used with Intransitive verbs. Intransitive
verbs are verbs that cannot take a direct object, as opposed to
transitive verbs that must have a direct object.
For example;
Transitive - John threw the ball.
Threw has a direct object, ball, and thus is transitive.
Intransitive - The train arrived late.
Arrived has no direct object and is Intransitive. This sentence
could be translated as “El tren se llegó tarde.” Note that many
verbs can be either Transitive or Intransitive.
• Read the information on these two pages for more examples;
http://spanish.about.com/cs/verbs/a/passive_se.htm
http://studyspanish.com/lessons/reflexive2.htm
¡El Fin!