V for vendetta alliteration

Page 1 of 5 AP Spanish Study Sheet: Reflexive Pronouns and Verbs© 2008 powerspeaK12. All rights reserved. This material is intended for the exclusive use of registered users only. No portion of these materials may be reproduced or redistributed in any form without the express permission of powerspeaK12. Figure It Out!Ayer me acosté a las seis pero no me levanté hasta las siete. Cuando me levanté me afeité, me duché, me sequé, me vestí, me preparé para el día y luego desayuné. A las ocho me fui a la escuela. How does the word in front of each verb in this paragraph about this person's personal routine affect the meaning of the verb? IntroductionA verb is reflexive when the subject receives the action of the verb. That is, the subject does the action to or for himself, herself, themselves, etc. Other times, a reflexive verb simply indicates that the subject receives the action, and that the performer of the action is unknown or unimportant. Reflexive verbs can also be used to indicate reciprocal action, meaning something that two people or things do to each other. A reflexive pronounalways accompanies a reflexive verb. They agree in person and number with each other. Reflexive pronouns generally precede the conjugated reflexive verb. Reflexive PronounsThe purpose of reflexive object pronouns is to show that the action of the verb remains with the subject. The following table shows the six reflexive pronouns in Spanish, along with their English equivalents in parentheses. REFLEXIVE PRONOUNSme (myself) nos(ourselves) te(yourself [informal]) os(yourselves [informal]) se(himself, herself, yourself [formal]) se(themselves, yourselves [formal]) Reflexive pronouns are always placed before the conjugated reflexive verb. They can also be attached to the end of infinitives, present participles, and affirmative commands. A written accent is often necessary to keep the original stress of present participles and affirmative commands when reflexive pronouns are attached. Also, reflexive pronouns agree in person and number with the conjugated verb. For example: Me levanto temprano.I get [myself] up early. Necesitamos levantarnos temprano mañana. We need to get [ourselves] up early tomorrow. Ellos no están levantándose temprano hoy. They are not getting [themselves] up early today. Levántate ahora.Get [yourself] up now. When a reflexive verb is after another verb (an auxiliary, or "helping" verb), and the reflexive verb is either an infinitive, a present participle, or an affirmative command, the
Page 2 of 5 AP Spanish Study Sheet: Reflexive Pronouns and Verbs© 2008 powerspeaK12. All rights reserved. This material is intended for the exclusive use of registered users only. No portion of these materials may be reproduced or redistributed in any form without the express permission of powerspeaK12. reflexive pronoun can be placed either before both verbs or attached to the end of the second verb. For example, you could say the following: Tenemos que levantarnos temprano mañana.ORNos tenemos que levantar temprano mañana.Ellos no están levantándose temprano hoy.OREllos no se están levantando temprano hoy.If the meaning of the reflexive pronoun is not clear from the context of the sentence, then a prepositional phrase involving mismo or propio is used to clarify its reflexive meaning (directed to oneself), or the phrase el uno al otro is used to signify reciprocity (directed to each other or one another). For example: Se vio a sí mismo. (He saw himself.) Se escribieron el uno al otro. (They wrote to each other.) Reflexive VerbsA reflexive verb is formed by adding a reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nos, os, se) before the conjugated verb or attached to the end of an infinitive verb, present participle, or affirmative command. The reflexive pronoun used agrees in person and number with the conjugated verb. The following table shows the conjugation of a common reflexive verb. BAÑARSE (to bath oneself) me baño(I wash myself) nos bañamos (we wash ourselves)te bañas (you wash yourself)os bañáis (you [plural] wash yourselves)se baña (he washes himself) (she washes herself) (you wash yourself)se bañan (they wash themselves) (they wash themselves) (you [plural] yourselves)In Spanish, when reflexive verbs appear in vocabulary lists they have the reflexive pronoun –se attached to the end of the infinitive verb. Without the reflexive pronoun the verb is not reflexive. You should also note that not all verbs can be reflexive and that a few verbs are always used reflexively. Also, for some verbs, the meaning changes when they are used reflexively. The following table lists some typical verbs in Spanish. Most can either be reflexive or non-reflexive, but a few can only be of one type. The equivalents are given in English. Pay special attention to the reflexive verbs and make a note as to which ones are stem-changing.