Spanish: An Essential Grammar

Reflexive verbs for daily routines

The reflexive forms of a number of otherwise transitive verbs are used for

key daily routines:

acostarse to go to bed levantarse to get up

afeitarse to shave vestirse to get dressed

despertarse to wake up

¡Venga, vístete! Come on, get dressed!

Verbs of becoming

The main verbs of becoming are all reflexive.

Convertirse‘to turn into’ is used with nouns only. Hacerse‘to become’

implies deliberate effort on the part of the subject. Ponerse‘to get’ is used

with adjectives describing temporary states. Quedarse‘to go’ is common

with certain disability adjectives and also some past participles, while

volverse‘to become’ is used principally with psychological adjectives:

Se está convirtiendo en una It’s turning into a nightmare.

pesadilla.

Se ha hecho millonaria. She’s become a millionaire.

14.9

14.8.4

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2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

1011

1

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3 4 5 6 7 8 9

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30111

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

40

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Verbs of

becoming

171

Table 14.2Some reflexive verbs of movement

Transitive verb Reflexive/Intransitive verb

acercarto bring closer acercarseto approach

alejarto move away alejarseto go away

meterto put meterseto meddle in

moverto move (something) moverseto move

pararto (bring to a) stop pararseto stop, to stand up [LA]

retirarto withdraw retirarseto back away,

(something) withdraw, retire

sentarto seat sentarseto sit down