Spanish Verbs Used Reflexively

Spanish Verbs Used Reflexively

VERBS USED REFLEXIVELY

Spanish uses many verbs with a reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nos, os, se) in order to convey the following meanings (see §40):
a. any action performed on oneself: No me conozco. I don’t know myself.
b. a reciprocal action: Nos queremos. We love each other.
c. a non-deliberate action: ¿Te caíste? Did you fall down?
Me rompí el brazo. I broke my arm.
d. to stress the totality of certain actions, generally related to consumption:
Nos comimos el arroz. We ate up the rice.
Me aprendí las palabras. I learned all words (thoroughly).
e. with many transitive verbs (those which require a direct object, such as “to communicate something”: comunicar algo), in order to show they are being used intransitively (without a direct object):
Es importante comunicarse. It is important to communicate.

The following list includes common verbs of this kind, some of which have different meanings with or without the reflexive pronoun. Some verbs only used with reflexive pronouns and verbs whose transitive use still requires reflexive pronouns are also listed here. The prepositions shown in parenthesis are usually attached to these verbs when followed by the infinitive or a subordinate clause with que: se aseguraron de cerrar la puerta / de que la puerta estuviera cerrada). See notes below for verbs marked *, §, ∞, ¥ :

abstenerse (de) to abstain (only used reflexively)
aburrir* to bore aburrirse to get bored
acordar to agree to acordarse (de) to remember
acostar to put someone to bed acostarse to go to bed
acostumbrar be in the habit of acostumbrarse (a) to get used
alegrar* to cheer someone alegrarse (de) to be glad, happy that...
apropiarse (de) to take possession of (abusively) (only used reflexively)
arrepentirse (de) to repent, to regret doing something (only used reflexively)
asegurar to lock, to insure asegurarse (de) to make sure of
asustar* to frighten asustarse to get firghtened
atreverse (a) to dare (only used reflexively)
callarto silence someone callarse to stop speaking
cansar* to tire someone cansarse (de) to get tired
casarto marry someone else casarse (con) to get married
comportar to entail or bring about comportarse to behave
comunicar to communicate something comunicarse (con) to communicate (with)
confundir* to confuse confundirse (por) § to get confused or lost
convertir to change into. convertirse (en) to become (see §40C)
decidir to decide decidirse (a) to make up one’s mind
despertar to wake someone up despertarse to wake up
detener to stop someone, detain detenerse (a) to stop
divertir* to amuse someone divertirse to have fun, enjoy oneself
dormir to sleep dormirse to go to sleep
empeñar to pawn; to pledge empeñarse( en) to insist on; persist in
enamorar to make someone fall in love enamorarse (de) to fall in love (with)
enojar* to anger enojarse (por) to get angry
entristecer* to sadden entristecerse to grow sad
equivocar to mistake, mix up equivocarse to make a mistake
esforzarse (por) to make an effort to, to strive to (mostly used reflexively)
extrañar to miss someone extrañarse* to be puzzled
graduar to graduate something graduarse (de/en) to graduate (from school)
hacer to do, to make hacerse to become (see §40C)
imaginar to conceive of, invent ideas imaginarse to imagine (to suppose)
independizar to make independent independizarse to become independent
interesar* to interest someone interesarse (en,por) to be(come) interested
ir to go somewhere irse (de un lugar) to go away
levantar to lift levantarse to get up
llamar to call llamarse to be called...(name)
llevar to carry somewhere llevarse to take away (with)
marchar to march marcharse(de) to go away
mejorar to improve mejorarse to get better from an illness
molestar* to annoy, to bother molestarse¥ (por) to become annoyed
morir to die morirse (de) to die (naturally; used inf.)
negar to deny negarse (a) to refuse
ocurrir to happen ocurrírsele a uno§ to occur to one (an idea)
olvidar to forget olvidarse (de) § to forget accidentally
parecer to seem (to look) parecerse (a alguien) to look (a)like (similar to)
perder to lose perderse§ to get lost; to miss an event
poner to put ponerse a(hacer...) to set out to
preparar to prepare something prepararse (para) to get prepared (for)
preocupar* to worry someone preocuparse (por) to be worried (about)
quedar∞ to remain, to be left quedarse (a) § to stay
quejarse (de) to complain (about) (only used reflexively)
rebelarse to rebel (mostly used reflexively)
referir to tell of, recount referirse a to refer to
reírse (de) to laugh (at) (mostly used reflexively, although hacer reír* is to make laugh)
resistir to bear, to stand something resistirse (a) to resist (against)
romper to break; to tear romperse§ to get broken
sentar to sit someone; to settle sentarse (a) to sit down
sentir to feel sentirse (+adj.)(de) to feel (with adj. only)
sorprender* to surprise someone sorprenderse (de) to be surprised
suicidarse to commit suicide (only used reflexively)
unir to put together unirse to unite, get together
unirse a (transitive) to join someone or something
vestir to dress someone vestirse to get dressed
volver (de) to return (from) volverse to turn round or into

Notes:

* Verbs that express personal reaction are often placed at the beginning of transitive constructions with indirect objects, making them similar to their intransitive, reflexive counterparts. Compare, for example:

Intransitive, with reflexive pronoun Transitive, with indirect object pronoun
Se alegra de que hayas vuelto. Le alegra que hayas vuelto.
She is glad you came back. Your coming back makes her glad.
Se cansaron de la astrología. Les cansó la astrología.
They got tired of astrology. Astrology tired them.
Me sorprendí de verte. Me sorprendió verte.
I was surprised to see you. Seeing you surprised me.

∞ Among several other meanings, quedar is used in the sense of “having something left”, as in Nos queda algo de dinero: “We have some money left” (used like gustar: see §39). Quedarse ciego/sordo/mudo/viudo/solo means “to become”, particularly for a long-lasting sense of loss.

§ These verbs can be used in a particular passive construction combining se and the indirect object pronouns to stress undeliberateness: se me confunden los datos, se les olvidó la cita, se le perdieron las llaves, se te quedó el paraguas, se nos rompió el teléfono (see §41). “To occur to someone” in the sense of getting a sudden idea or impression is expressed by ocurrir in this kind of construction: Se me ha ocurrido una genial idea.

¥ Molestarse en hacer algo means “to bother do something” in the sense of particular effort, disdain or arrogance toward (not) performing an action.