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Reflexive Pronouns

Reflexive pronouns show that the subject does an action to itself, and they are key in describing daily routines, reactions, and personal care. This guide goes over each pronoun and how to use them.

Reflexive Pronouns

Reflexive pronouns match the subject and typically appear as me, te, se, nos and os in Spanish; they attach to verbs or appear before helping verbs depending on the construction.

Subject	Reflexive Pronoun
I	myself
you (singular)	yourself
he	himself
she	herself
it	itself
we	ourselves
you (plural)	yourselves
they	themselves

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Using Reflexive Pronouns

Reflexive pronouns appear before conjugated verbs, attach to infinitives, gerunds, and commands, and they signal that the action returns to the subject rather than affecting someone else. Every reflexive verb is marked by se in the dictionary form.

English Example	English Translation
I taught myself to play guitar.	I taught myself to play guitar.
She looked at herself in the mirror.	She looked at herself in the mirror.
They prepared the meal themselves.	They prepared the meal themselves.
We enjoyed ourselves at the concert.	We enjoyed ourselves at the concert.

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Common Reflexive Verbs

Common reflexive verbs describe everyday actions like dressing, washing, and waking up; learning these verbs helps you talk about routines naturally. Each example includes the verb in its infinitive reflexive form.

English Word(s)	Spanish Reflexive Verb
to wake up	despertarse
to get up	levantarse
to wash oneself	lavarse
to dress oneself	vestirse
to brush (teeth/hair)	cepillarse

Verb	Example Sentence
to dress	She dressed herself before breakfast.
to wash	He washed himself after the game.
to shave	He shaves himself every morning.
to hurt	I hurt myself while cooking.
to enjoy	They enjoyed themselves at the party.
to blame	She blamed herself for the mistake.

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Non-Reflexive Uses

Some verbs can be reflexive or not depending on whether the action returns to the subject; changing or omitting the pronoun changes the meaning from self-action to action on someone or something else. Pay attention to context and whether the pronoun appears.

English Example	English Translation
She made herself a sandwich.	She made a sandwich for herself.
I see myself in the photo.	I see my own image in the photo.
They will speak for themselves.	They will speak on their own behalf.
He taught the class himself.	He personally taught the class.

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Double Object Pronouns

When reflexive pronouns combine with indirect object pronouns, se replaces le/les to avoid awkward forms, and the corresponding direct pronoun comes alongside or the pronouns reorder according to standard rules. This market helps keep sentences clear when two pronouns appear.

English Example	English Translation
She gave herself a pep talk.	She gave a pep talk to herself.
I wrote myself a reminder note.	I wrote a reminder note for myself.
They bought themselves tickets.	They bought tickets for themselves.
He promised himself to practice daily.	He promised to himself to practice daily.

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Summary

Reflexive pronouns tie the action back to the subject and appear as small pronouns like me, te, and se that align with the subject. Learn common reflexive verbs to describe routines, watch for se in infinitives, and practice placing pronouns before conjugated forms or attaching them to infinitives and commands.

Last updated: Sun Sep 14, 2025