44 Reflexive: do it to yourself

In the songs, you will often see the word SE, like in “Se acostó temprano mañana hay que estudiar” (=She got down early tomorrow there’s to study, Callaíta, Bad Bunny), “Se pone caliente cuando escucha este perreo” (=She gets hot/horny when she listens to this perreo). This is different from SÉ (with accent mark) which means “I know”.

Reflexive SE always goes before a conjugated verb. It’s like a parasitic word that climbs upon the verb to remember that action impacts the subject as an object at the same time. The word SE is always used in the third person singular or plural, but it changes to ME (=me), TE (=you), NOS (=us, each other) for each of the persons.

In dictionary entries, it appears right after the infinitive, but when you conjugate the verb, SE separates from it and moves before the verb.

• Acostar (=to lay down), acostarse (=to put one self to bed), “se acostó temprano” (=she put herself to bet early), as in Bad Bunny’s Callaíta
• Poner (=to put), ponerse (=to put oneself, to turn into something different), se pone caliente (=she turns hot/horny, she makes herself hot/horny), as in JBalvin’s Bonita
• Montar (=to mount, to ride), montarse (=to put oneself on ride), se monta (=she puts herself on a riding position), as in Daddy Yankee’s “El pony”
• Ir (=to go), irse (=to put oneself on leave), se va (=it departs, she departs, he departs), as in la cumbia “Se va el caiman”

When the verb refers to ME or to YOU, keep ME or TE:

• Me acosté temprano=I put myself early to bed.
• ¿Te acostaste temprano?=Did you put yourself to bed early?

Steps to make the reflexive in él OR ella OR usted (formal you) form:

• If the dictionary entry ends in SE, delete the SE: levantarse (=put oneself up, idiom. to get up)
• The remaining entry is levantar, then you conjugate it, let’s say, in the él form: levanta
• The form SE moves back from the verb: se levanta

Steps to make the reflexive in ellos OR ellas OR ustedes form:

• If the dictionary entry ends in SE, delete the SE: levantarse (=put oneself up, idiom. to get up)
• The remaining entry is levantar, then you conjugate it, let’s say, in the ellos form: levantan
• The form SE moves back from the verb: se levantan

Steps to make the reflexive in the nosostros OR nosotras form:

• If the dictionary entry ends in SE, delete the SE: levantarse (=put oneself up, idiom. to get up)
• The remaining entry is levantar, then you conjugate it, let’s say, in the nosotros form: levantamos
• The form se moves back from the verb, and turns into NOS: nos levantamos

Steps to make the reflexive in the YO form:

• If the dictionary entry ends in SE, delete the SE: levantarse (=put oneself up, idiom. to get up)
• The remaining entry is levantar, then you conjugate it in the yo form: levanto
• The form SE moves back from the verb, and turns into ME: me levanto

Steps to make the reflexive in the TÚ form:

• If the dictionary entry ends in SE, delete the SE: levantarse (=put oneself up, idiom. to get up)
• The remaining entry is levantar, then you conjugate it in the TÚ form: levantas
• The form SE moves back from the verb, and turns into TE: te levantas

Lexical entries with certain meanings just take the reflexive: Levantarse (=to put oneself up, idiom. to get up), cepillarse los dientes (=to brush one’s own teeth), maquillarse (=to put make up on oneself), lavarse la cara (=to wash one’s own face), peinarse (=to brush oneself)

Sample conversation:

Being dirty

Confess cleaning things you don’t do as often. The question provides samples in the reflexive tú-form, change them into the yo-form in the answer:

A: ¿Tú te cepillas (pick verbs in the reflexive from below) todos los días? =Do you brush your teeth everyday?

B: Sí, yo me ____________ (conjugate in the YO form) todos los días. / No, no me ____________ (conjugate in the YO form) todos los días.

Reflexive verbs in the tú-form: Te bañas (=you shower), te lavas la cara (=you wash own’s face), te maquillas (=you put makeup on your own), te vistes (=to dress yourself), te pasas la ceda dental (=you pass dental floss on yourself), te lavas las manos (=you wash your own hands)

Morning routines

A: ¿Qué haces por la mañana?​

B: Yo ____________, ____________ y _____________ (conjugate in the full reflexive form).​

• ​Cepillarse los dientes (=to brush the teeth onself)​
• Ducharse (=toput a shower on oneself)​
• Maquillarse (=toput makeup on onself)​
• Lavarse la cara (=towash one’s own face=)​
• Levantarse (=toput oneself up)​
• Ponerse la ropa (=toput on oneself the clothes), yo-form=pongo​