How do you conjugate a reflexive verb in Spanish?
The verb conjugates as usual and the pronoun follows the subject: yo → me, tú → te, él, ella and usted → se, nosotros → nos, vosotros → os, ellos and ustedes → se. In the dictionary the verb carries se on the end: levantarse, ducharse, acostarse.
Stem changes stay: me acuesto, me siento, me visto, me duermo — the present of acostar, sentar, vestir and dormir. Every tense works the same way: me levanté, me levantaba, me levantaré.
No goes before the pronoun: no me levanto, no te acuestes.
| Person | Pronoun | levantarse |
|---|---|---|
| yo | me | me levanto |
| tú (vos) | te | te levantas (te levantás) |
| él, ella, usted | se | se levanta |
| nosotros | nos | nos levantamos |
| vosotros | os | os levantáis |
| ellos, ustedes | se | se levantan |
Where does the reflexive pronoun go?
Before a conjugated verb the pronoun is a separate word: me levanto, se fue, nos vamos. After an infinitive, a gerund or a yes command it joins the end: levantarme, duchándome, levántate.
When a conjugated verb comes before an infinitive or a gerund — voy a, quiero, puedo, tengo que, estoy — both places are right: me voy a levantar and voy a levantarme, me estoy duchando and estoy duchándome. The pronoun never sits between the two (voy a me levantar), and never goes in front of a gerund on its own (me duchando).
Joining a pronoun can push the stress three syllables from the end, and then the word takes an accent: levanta becomes levántate, duchando becomes duchándome. Levantarme needs none — the stress stays where it was.
| With | Where | Example |
|---|---|---|
| A conjugated verb | Before it | Me levanto. No me levanto. |
| Voy a, quiero + infinitive | Either place | Me voy a levantar. Voy a levantarme. |
| Estar + gerund | Either place | Me estoy duchando. Estoy duchándome. |
| A yes command | Joined to the end | Levántate. Siéntese. |
| A no command | Before it | No te levantes. |
Which Spanish verbs change meaning with se?
The se is part of the meaning: duermo ocho horas (I sleep eight hours) against siempre me duermo viendo la tele (I always fall asleep watching TV); voy a Madrid (I'm going to Madrid) against me voy (I'm leaving).
Acordarse and parecerse bring a preposition: me acuerdo de su nombre, se parece a su padre. Recordar means the same as acordarse but takes the thing directly — recuerdo su nombre — and the academies advise against recordar de. Before a whole clause, speech often drops the de (me acuerdo que…); in writing they recommend keeping it.
| Without se | With se |
|---|---|
| dormir — to sleep | dormirse — to fall asleep |
| ir — to go | irse — to leave |
| llamar — to call | llamarse — to be called |
| levantar — to lift | levantarse — to get up |
| parecer — to seem | parecerse a — to look like |
| acordar — to agree on | acordarse de — to remember |
How do commands work with reflexive verbs?
A yes command takes the pronoun on its end; a no command takes the present subjunctive with the pronoun in front, for everyone: levántate but no te levantes, siéntese but no se siente. Vos says levantate — levantá with te.
Two letters drop. Before nos, a let's command loses its -s: levantemos + nos = levantémonos, vamos + nos = vámonos. Before os, a vosotros command loses its -d: levantad + os = levantaos, sentad + os = sentaos. Irse is the exception: idos — or iros, now the most common in speech and also accepted.
Ustedes keeps a single n: siéntense, levántense. The academies call siéntensen a popular error. Spanish commands has the rest of the forms.
| To | Yes | No |
|---|---|---|
| tú | siéntate | no te sientes |
| usted | siéntese | no se siente |
| nosotros | sentémonos | no nos sentemos |
| vosotros | sentaos | no os sentéis |
| ustedes | siéntense | no se sienten |
Why is it me lavo las manos, not mis manos?
With a reflexive verb, Spanish names a part of the body with the article, because the pronoun already says whose it is: me lavo las manos, se rompió el brazo. The academies' grammar calls a possessive beside the reflexive redundant: se miró la mano, not se miró su mano. Clothes work the same way: me pongo la chaqueta.
Our writing grader records exactly this slip: pongo mi ropa for me pongo la ropa — the reflexive missing, and a possessive where the article goes.
Why do English speakers get reflexive verbs wrong?
English rarely marks the reflexive — I get up, I shower, I sit down — so the Spanish pronoun is easy to drop: levanto a las siete for me levanto. The other slips come from English word order and habits: voy a me levantar, mis manos for las manos, levantémosnos for levantémonos.
Our own grading data counts reflexive pronouns with the other object pronouns, so there is no rate for reflexives alone. Across 36 learners and 468 object pronouns (recounted 24 September 2026), 43% were wrong — 49% at A2. It covers every pronoun slip, and it is a count of our own learners, not a study.
What comes after reflexive verbs?
Double object pronouns put two pronouns in the same places — se lo di, dámelo. Verbs like gustar use the same me, te and nos the other way round: me gusta. Ponerse, volverse and hacerse are the reflexive verbs for becoming, Spanish commands has every command form, and stem-changing verbs the changes behind me acuesto and me siento. The present progressive puts the pronoun in the same two places: me estoy duchando, estoy duchándome. The free Spanish level test places you on the A1–C2 scale in five minutes.