Reflexive verbs (levantarse, llamarse...)

Me levanto a las siete y me ducho enseguida.I get up at seven and shower right away.

Verbs ending in -se often describe an action the subject does to itself — washing your own face, for instance. Others, though, carry their own pronominal meaning that isn't really "to X oneself" at all — despertarse is simply "to wake up," not literally "to wake oneself." Spanish marks both kinds the same way: with a small pronoun that, in an ordinary statement or question, goes right before the conjugated verb, matching the subject.

Quick shortcut: me, te, se, nos, os, se — one for each subject — placed right before the conjugated verb in statements and questions. Me levanto, te levantas, se levanta...

The reflexive pronouns

The infinitive form of a reflexive verb ends in -se (levantarse, to get up), but once conjugated in a statement or question, the matching pronoun moves in front of the verb:

The verb itself still conjugates completely normally for its type (levantar is a regular -ar verb) — the only new piece is the pronoun in front.

Common daily-routine reflexive verbs

Several of these — despertarse (e→ie), vestirse (e→i), acostarse (o→ue) — also have a stem change in the present tense, on top of being reflexive. The two things are independent: the pronoun marks the reflexive meaning, and the stem change happens (or doesn't) exactly as it would in the non-reflexive verb.

Llamarse is worth a special note: it's grammatically reflexive, but it doesn't really mean "to call oneself" — it's simply the everyday way to say what your name is. Not every reflexive-looking verb keeps a literal "to X oneself" meaning.

The same verb, with and without a reflexive pronoun

Many verbs exist in both a plain and a reflexive version, with the reflexive one meaning you're doing the action to yourself:

Lavo el coche. (I wash the car.) vs. Me lavo la cara. (I wash my face.) Acuesto al bebé. (I put the baby to bed.) vs. Me acuesto temprano. (I go to bed early.) Despierto a mi hermano. (I wake my brother up.) vs. Me despierto a las siete. (I wake up at seven.)

With lavar/lavarse, the pronoun really does mark "to yourself" — you're washing your own face rather than someone else's. Despertar/despertarse and acostar/acostarse work a little differently: they're best learned as verb pairs with related but distinct meanings ("to wake someone up" vs. "to wake up," "to put someone to bed" vs. "to go to bed") rather than as one literal action redirected onto the subject.

Where the pronoun can go

In an ordinary statement or question, the pronoun goes right before the conjugated verb (me levanto). With an affirmative command, though, it attaches to the end of the verb instead: ¡Levántate! (Get up!), never ¡Te levanta! When a reflexive verb follows another conjugated verb as an infinitive, the pronoun can attach to the end of the infinitive instead of going before the first verb, and both options are equally correct:

Voy a levantarme temprano. / Me voy a levantar temprano. (I'm going to get up early — both mean exactly the same thing.)

Common mistakes

• ❌ Yo levanto a las siete. (meaning "I get up") → ✅ Yo me levanto a las siete. (without me, this instead reads as "I lift [something] at seven" — an incomplete sentence missing its object)
• ❌ Me levanto me a las siete. → ✅ Me levanto a las siete. (the reflexive pronoun appears once here, right before the conjugated verb — not repeated)
• ❌ Ella se levanta se tarde. → ✅ Ella se levanta tarde. (same duplication mistake)
• ❌ Nosotros se duchamos. → ✅ Nosotros nos duchamos. (the pronoun must match the subject — nosotros takes nos, not se)

Quick check

Here are five sentences to complete with the correct reflexive pronoun and the present-tense form of the verb in parentheses.

1. Yo ___ ___ (despertarse) a las siete.
2. ¿Tú ___ ___ (llamarse) Ana?
3. Nosotros ___ ___ (acostarse) tarde los viernes.
4. Ella ___ ___ (vestirse) muy rápido.
5. Ellos ___ ___ (ducharse) antes de cenar.

Key takeaways

• Reflexive pronouns (me, te, se, nos, os, se) go right before the conjugated verb in statements and questions, and must match the subject.
• With an affirmative command, the pronoun attaches to the end instead: ¡Levántate!, never ¡Te levanta!
• Many daily-routine verbs are reflexive: despertarse, levantarse, ducharse, vestirse, acostarse, llamarse...
• Some reflexive verbs are also stem-changing — the two features are independent of each other.
• The same verb can exist with or without the pronoun, with a related but different meaning: lavar (to wash something) vs. lavarse (to wash oneself); despertar (to wake someone up) vs. despertarse (to wake up).
• With an infinitive after a conjugated verb, the pronoun can go before the conjugated verb or attach to the infinitive — both are correct.