Spanish: An Essential Grammar

(avery) #1
El avión se salió de la pista. The plane came off the runway.
Si abres el grifo, ¿sale agua? If you turn on the tap/faucet,
does any water come out?
(normal)
Se sale el agua de la cisterna. Water is leaking from the tank.
(unexpected)
Subir‘to go up’, ‘rise’
Subirse‘to get in/on’, ‘climb on to’

Hay que subir a pie. You have to go up on foot.
(Nos) subimos al tren en We got on to the train in
Córdoba. Córdoba.

Ignacio se subió al tejado. Ignacio went on to the roof.
In the case of callarse‘to be quiet’ and reírse‘to laugh’ the non-reflexive
form is used primarily as an infinitive following another verb:
¡No me mandes callar! Don’t tell me to be quiet!

¡Cállate! Be quiet!
No me hagas reír. Don’t make me laugh.

Miguel se ríe de todos. Miguel laughs at everyone.

This emphatic use of the reflexive pronoun is especially common with verbs
of consumption (eating and drinking). The effect in this case is to stress
quantity or speed:

Se lo bebió de un trago. He drank it in one gulp.
¡Te has zampado el paquete You’ve guzzled the entire
entero! packet!

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Emphatic
reflexive
verbs

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