Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Los verbos reflexivos



¿Cómo te llamas?

Think of the answer to that question in your head.

Got it? Right, you’re probably saying to yourself, “Me llamo (your name here)” or in English “My name is (again, your name here).” However, “¿cómo te llamas?” does not mean “what is your name?” Rather, it means “how do you call yourself?”

In the above example you see that the reflexive pronouns (me, te, se, nos, y os) can serve a very strong function in conveying a lot of information in a very small space.

In this lesson we will see how to properly use these reflexive pronouns, along with their reflexive verb to comunícate much better in Spanish.

¿Cuáles son los verbos reflexivos?

Bañarse Cepillarse (los dientes)






¡OJO! You can use the reflexive pronouns with other verbs, but "yo hablo" and "me hablo" do NOT mean the same thing. "Yo hablo" means "I talk" while "me hablo" means "I talk to myself," in which case I would be acting quite strange.

The following is a song for you to listen to. Read the lyrics below it, paying special attention to the bolded text. There will be a quiz to follow.


Despiertas. No has podido dormir muy bien. Te levantas.
Caminas y pisas uno de los charcos de orine que el nuevo
perro ha dejado por toda la casa. Maldiciendo, entras al baño
brincando en una sola pierna, enciendes la luz y restriegas
el pie sobre la cubierta que tu esposa le puso al excusado.
Vas hasta la bañadera blanca, abres los dos grifos del agua
y controlas la temperatura. Levántas la cosa esa que no sabes
cómo se llama y que hace que el agua salga por la regadera.
Te bañas. No cantas. Sales de la tina. Te secas con una toalla
que dice "Disneylandia". Te subes a una balanza que da siempre
pesos diferentes, pero aproximados. Cuando te estás afeitando,
suena el despertador. Tu mujer abre los ojos. Mira la hora.
Lo apaga. Se levanta, de su lado de la cama. Cada uno tiene
su lado de la cama. Cada uno tiene su lado en todo. Tú la sientes
saliendo del cuarto, rumbo a la cocina. El vecino de arriba prendió
el tocadisco. Terminás de afeitarte. Te limpias las cortaditas
con papel higiénico que se te queda pegado a la piel. Te pones
el desodorante, "24 horas de protección constante." Un poco
de colonia para después de afeitarte. Te arde la cara. Sales
del baño. Pisas otra vez el orine del perro. Le mientas la madre,
en voz alta. Tu esposa, desde la cocina, te pregunta qué te pasa.
Tú le explicas a gritos por qué no quieres otro perro en la casa.
Mientras te secas el pie con la toalla mojada que dice "Disneylandia",
ella se aparece y silenciosamente seca el charco de orine. Vas
al closet y sacas la ropa que te vas a poner. Miras el reloj. Hueles
el café. Te vistes. No encuentras la correa. Te haces la corbata
dos veces porque la primera vez la parte de atrás te quedó más larga
que la parte de adelante. Vas a la cocina. Tu esposa ya preparó
tu desayuno. Le hablas otra vez del perro. Ella, sin contestarte,
te recuerda que hay que pagar la cuenta de la luz y la matrícula
de la escuela de los chiquillos. Cuelgas tu jacket del borde de la silla
y te sientas en la mesa de la cocina...

You may finish listening if you like, or simply take this quiz:



19 comments:

  1. This was helpful. I understood the whole objective of the reflexive verbs.


    Alexa Ray

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  2. I was a bit confused on the quiz so hopefully tomorrow goes better. the song was kind of fast to understand but thanks for posting the lyrics too.

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  3. Lesson was helpful. And thanks for posting the lyrics as well. Being able to follow along with the song made it easier to understand what he was saying.

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  4. I enjoyed the song. I also felt I got a much better grasp on some of those new verbs and the reflexive, after seeing them conjugated and used.

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  5. This lesson was very helpful. I understandd the verbs and pronouns better. The song was fast so thanks for posting the lyrics

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  6. The lesson was helpful for me, I understand the pronouns better. Quiz prepared me for today and the song was awesome.

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  7. hey! i took the test. grr. very frusterating.
    -rya-

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  8. If I say to a man "El me afeita" Does it mean he shaves me or puts my make up on? Is that the correct way to specify who i'm talking about? (El?)
    Thank you, I think I am finally beginning to understand reflexive verbs.
    Lena

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  9. The quiz was a little confusing, but other than that I think it was a good excercise to do for homework.

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  10. The song was a little weird, but interesting and the quiz was fun. I like being able to learn words that I can use in everyday sentences. :)

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  11. This lesson was helpful but im still confused about how to use reflexive pronouns after infinitives.

    Cameron Acorn

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  12. Not a bad quiz and I elso enjoyed having the lyrics present on the page to follow along with... horrible song however lol

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  13. This lesson helped me understand how to use reflexive pronouns. The song was pretty annoying but besides that it was good.


    Brett Baumgartner

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  14. The song was annoying but it was a good way to show how to use reflexive pronouns.

    Veronica Bell

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  15. i thought this lesson was helpful. but the song was...a little ridiculous.

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  16. this was a cool way to learn the reflexive verbs

    Hannah Hemenway

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  17. I thought that the lesson was effective. It helped with learning how to listen as well as really help key an eye out for the reflexive verbs. I enjoyed it!

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  18. Hey, could you go over 1 more time in class how the meaning changes when the reflexive is before or at the end of a word.

    Thanks, Thomas Atkins

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