Los Reflexivos

Verbs used to show an action is done to the person doing that action

The action reflects back on the person doing that action

Identifiable by the se attached to the end of the infinitive form

Ejemplo: levantarse

To conjugate a reflexive verb, there are a couple extra steps than conjugating other regular verbs.

First, move the se from the end of the infinitive and put it before the verb

Second, change the se to agree with the person doing/receiving the action

Third, conjugate your infinitive verb as usual

The se (reflexive pronoun) will get changed to one of the following:

me - used with yo

te - used with tú

se - used with él/ella/usted

nos - used with nosotros/as

os - used with vosotros/as

se - used with ellos/ellas/ustedes

Let's take a look at how it's done:

If I want to say "I wash my face in the morning." that is a reflexive action, because I am washing my own face.

I'll use the verb lavarse (to wash oneself) - I start by moving the se to the front: se lavar

Then I change my pronoun so it agrees with my subject (yo): me lavar

Then I conjugate lavar in the yo form and add the rest of my sentence: Me lavo la cara por la mañana.

Did you notice what happened with the infinitive verb in that last sentence?

The sentence said "Yo me afeito después de ducharme."

The infinitive verb in the sentence was reflexive as well and the pronoun at the end changed!

Any time you have an unconjugated reflexive verb in a sentence, you still need to change the reflexive pronoun attached to the end.

If the first verb in the sentence isn't reflexive, you can also move that pronoun to the front of that verb

Example: No me quiero levantar temprano./No quiero levantarme temprano