Lesson 13 · 7 min read
Spanish Reflexive Verbs and Daily Routines
Reflexive verbs describe actions you do to yourself — waking up, getting dressed, going to bed. Spanish marks this with a small pronoun (me, te, se…) attached to the verb, which is why they always end in "-se" in the dictionary form.
1. What makes a verb reflexive
Reflexive pronouns are me, te, se, nos, os, se — one for each subject. The pronoun usually goes right before the conjugated verb.
| Spanish | English | Example |
|---|---|---|
| levantarse | to get up | Me levanto a las siete. — I get up at seven. |
| ducharse | to shower | Se ducha por la mañana. — He/She showers in the morning. |
| vestirse | to get dressed | Nos vestimos rápido. — We get dressed quickly. |
| acostarse | to go to bed | Me acuesto a las once. — I go to bed at eleven. |
| lavarse | to wash (oneself) | |
| peinarse | to comb one's hair |
2. Conjugating levantarse (to get up)
The pronoun changes with the subject, and the verb itself still conjugates normally.
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| yo me levanto | I get up |
| tú te levantas | you get up |
| él/ella se levanta | he/she gets up |
| nosotros nos levantamos | we get up |
| ellos se levantan | they get up |
3. A typical morning
A morning routine is where reflexive verbs cluster most densely, which makes it the best place to practise them. Notice that the pronoun changes with the subject — me levanto, te levantas, se levanta — and that Spanish uses the definite article, not a possessive, for body parts: "me lavo las manos", not "mis manos".
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| Me despierto a las seis y media. | I wake up at six thirty. |
| Me ducho y me visto. | I shower and get dressed. |
| Ella se maquilla antes de salir. | She puts on makeup before leaving. |
| ¿A qué hora te acuestas? | What time do you go to bed? |
4. When the same verb means two different things
Many Spanish verbs exist in both a plain and a reflexive form, and the pair does not mean the same thing. Lavar is to wash something; lavarse is to wash yourself. Ir is to go; irse is to leave. Dormir is to sleep; dormirse is to fall asleep. The pronoun is not decoration — it changes the verb. A reflexive pronoun can also make an action mutual rather than self-directed. Se escriben means they write to each other, not that each writes to themselves. Context settles which reading is intended, and in practice it is almost never ambiguous.
| Spanish | English | Example |
|---|---|---|
| ir / irse | to go / to leave | Me voy, hasta mañana. — I'm off, see you tomorrow. |
| dormir / dormirse | to sleep / to fall asleep | Me dormí en el sofá. — I fell asleep on the sofa. |
| poner / ponerse | to put / to put on | Me pongo el abrigo. — I'm putting my coat on. |
| llamar / llamarse | to call / to be called | Se llama Diego. — He's called Diego. |
| acordarse de | to remember | No me acuerdo de su nombre. — I don't remember his name. |
Common mistakes
Me lavo mis manos → Me lavo las manos
The reflexive pronoun already establishes whose hands they are, so Spanish uses the definite article. Adding the possessive is redundant and sounds wrong.
Yo levanto a las siete → Me levanto a las siete
Without the pronoun, levantar means to lift something else. Dropping the me changes the meaning entirely.