#reflexivos

[spanishskulduggery]

Can you clarify/explain reflexive verbs vs base forms? Ex: yo duermo vs me duermo. I think it's basically I sleep vs I go to sleep, maybe? But for other reflexive verbs especially I don't understand the difference

It's a little difficult because dormirse is one of the weird reflexives

In general, the reflexive ending -se to an infinitive just means that the action can be done to oneself; the subject and object are the same

As an example: lavar "to wash" can be done with laundry, the floor, pets, children... etc. but then you have lavarse which is "to wash oneself", as in lavarse las manos "to wash one's own hands"

[lit. "I wash myself the hands"; body parts rarely have possessive adjectives like "my" if it's obvious whose body parts they are, similar to me duele la garganta "my throat hurts" or literally "the throat hurts me"]

Many verbs can be reflexive this way, like hablarse "to talk to oneself"... or they can be reciprocal which just means that two or more subjects do something to one another like conocerse "to meet one another" or "to get to know one another"

Sometimes verbs can be either plain reflexive or reciprocal depending on context; casarse can be "to get married" as in one person, or casarse as "for two people to get married to each other"

With other reflexives you sometimes stumble across weird ones. You can usually tell something is up when it doesn't make sense in the traditional reflexive sense - where "oneself" doesn't make sense

In your case, dormir is "to sleep" and dormirse is "to fall asleep" or "to go to sleep"

It gets a little more confusing than this with reflexives. I'll try to be comprehensive and clear, but just know that reflexives opens up to a whole lot of grammatical concepts that are weird and confusing and VERY advanced - I'm talking advanced in a way that native speakers don't often know how to explain, it's just the way things are and what sounds right

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The reflexive here is a special kind of reflexive where it adds a little something to it; sometimes the difference seems minimal to non-native speakers [like comerse with food is MUCH more common than regular comer; like me como la pizza is "I eat the pizza" and is much more common]

Other times you get an entirely new expression... like acordar is "to come to an agreement" while acordarse is "to remember"

And sometimes the difference is very subtle but significant like dormirse, or something like olvidarse "to forget" being a little more common than regular olvidar

The exact reasoning depends on the actual verb, sometimes it's a more passive expression (like romperse is "to break down" where it's implied "on one's own" rather than actually breaking something which feels purposeful)

And other times it's like dormirse where the meaning seems to be subtly different. When I explain it to people I try to tell them to think of verbs that change meaning depending on prepositions or additional words... like caer is "to fall", but caerse can either be "to fall down" or it can be "to fall out" as in teeth or hair etc.

A few common ones to keep in mind:

ir = to go irse = to go away

dormir = to sleep dormirse = to fall asleep, to go to sleep [can also be "to go numb" the same way you might say "my leg fell asleep"]

morir = to die morirse = to pass away (suddenly or it impacts you emotionally)

acabar = to finish acabarse = to run out, to be depleted

romper = to break [active] romperse = to break [passive], to break down, to break on its own

encontrar = to find encontrarse = to feel [like ¿te encuentras bien? is "are you (feeling) okay?"]

creer = to believe creerse = to believe (usually without evidence)

parecer = to seem parecerse (a) = to look like, to resemble

acordar = to come to an agreement acordarse (de) = to remember

fijar = to affix, to put in place fijarse = to stare at, to look at

imaginar = to imagine (as in to use one's imagination or to think) imaginarse = to imagine, to put oneself in a situation

preguntar = to ask preguntarse = to wonder, to consider, to contemplate

olvidar = to forget [feels active] olivdarse (de) = to forget, to slip one's mind [feels passive]

pasar = to pass / to spend pasarse = to overindulge / to be out of line / to exceed, to outdo

caer = to fall caerse = to fall down, to fall out

concentrar = to gather / to pool, to pool together, to accumulate concentrarse = to concentrate, to focus, to pay attention

dar = to give darse cuenta = to realize, to come to an understanding

quedar = to remain, to be left quedarse = to stay behind [as in quedarse en casa "to stay home"]

hundir = to drive into, to plunge, to sink hundirse = to sink down, to sink (boats)

ahogar = to smother / to stifle / to overwhelm ahogarse = to drown, to suffocate

despedir = to expel, to emit / to get rid of / to fire someone despedirse (de alguien) = to say goodbye, to say one's goodbyes

You are also going to want to be aware what's called los verbos de cambio or "verbs of change". These are verbs that mean "to become", and they're reflexive and used in different situations:

convertirse en = to become, to be converted to

transformarse en = to transform into

ponerse = to become (emotions) [as in ponerse triste "to get sad", ponerse enojado/a "to get angry", there's ponerse rojo/a which could be "to blush" or "to get red"... these are understood as very temporary and usually emotions]

volverse = to become, to turn (drastic) [most common is volverse loco/a "to go crazy" or "to go mad"; if volverse is being used as "to become" it's usually very drastic and unexpected]

quedarse = to become, to be struck + physical condition [as in quedarse de piedra "to be stunned" which is literally "turned to stone", or quedarse mudo/a "to be struck silent/dumb/mute", or quedarse ciego/a "to be blinded", quedarse sordo/a "to be struck deaf", or quedarse paralizado/a "to be paralyzed"... also used as quedarse embarazada sometimes as "to get knocked up" or "to become pregnant", and there's an expression quedarse de brazos cruzados which is understood as "to stand around doing nothing" but literally "to stay behind/be left with arms crossed"]

hacerse = to become (with effort) [most understood as "to make oneself" - this is used for something you achieve with personal effort often times; hacerse rico/a "to get rich", hacerse famoso/a "to become famous"... it's also often used for dietary restrictions or religious conversions; hacerse vegetariano/a "to become a vegetarian" or hacerse budista "to become Buddhist" as an example; it's also sometimes used for vocations or something you study and work at for a long time or with a vow like hacerse monja "to become a nun"... while not 100% the most common expression it expresses a devotion and work ethic rather than just expressions that use ser as "to be/become" with professions]

Be especially wary of ponerse because it honestly has so many additional meanings: ponerse la ropa is "to put on clothes", ponerse el sol is "for the sun to set", ponerse could be "to become", or an expression like ponerse las pilas is "to get your act together" or "to get yourself in gear" but literally it's "to put one's batteries in"

There are also some verbs that are just more commonly reflexive for your purposes... like concentrarse, or a verb like graduarse "to graduate" where simple graduar is "to calibrate", a couple others are jubilarse "to retire" or something like desahogarse which is "to vent" [lit. "to un-drown oneself"; in the sense of "get off one's chest" to make them feel better]

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Addendum: I do have to mention that reflexive endings get used for many things so it is sometimes weirder and more complicated and no one explains why; the umbrella term is "pronomial" which includes the reflexives, but it just means any time you see a reflexive ending but it might not fit the typical "to onself" definition

And, the weirdest one of all is se which you might think is reflexive but it also might not be

There are going to be times you see a se that isn't reflexive; sometimes it's passive, sometimes it's impersonal, sometimes it's taking the place of le or les in a sentence with indirect and direct objects

Really, se is the weirdest one and I only mention it because you're going to be confused by se many times; it's just versatile

In general, a se refers to a 3rd person something and it gets used in descriptions of 3rd person unspecified, or to mean "itself" or "oneself" in some cases. There's almost always a 3rd person-ness to se where something is happening but it might not be a "thing" so much as it happening "on its own", if that makes sense

I know, it's weird, I'm sorry

[belaspalavras]

Eu Não Te Amo

Eu não amo você. 

Não escolheria você.

Não confiaria em você.

Não mostraria minha pinta que tenho no meu pé e sua história cômica. 

Não iria te falar o meu sabor favorito da casquinha. 

Não te daria minha borrachinha do meu cabelo pra lembrar de mim. 

Não iria te levar uma garrafa de água quando estivesse cansado de jogar futebol. 

Não pensaria em colocar uma roupa combinando com a sua.

Não te ligaria pra dizer te amo e que só consigo pensar em você. 

Mas eu gosto de você. 

Eu experimentaria sua boca.

Eu beijava seu pescoço e abdômen. 

Eu elogiaria seu sorriso ardente.

Eu derreteria toda vez que mastiga algo. 

Eu provocaria você até que me implorasse por mais. 

Eu iria testar os seus limites até acabar o meu. 

Eu olharia o seu rosto suado, tão cheio de prazer e me encontraria ali. 

Eu deixaria marcas por toda a parte, mesmo eu não te amando. 

[blog-oscar-iglesias-casado-23675]

Música "Vetusta morla-maldita dulzura"

Uno de mis grupos favoritos indie, aquí os dejo una de canciones, la verdad que sinceramente tiene muy buenas letras, abrazos y Feliz Jueves

[licalirio]

Ver você se esforçar é assustador. ..

Não me culpe, ninguém nunca tinha feito tanta questão assim de mim. Eu sempre fui substituível.

Acostumei a ver meus grandes amores com outros amores, porque eu era "complicada demais" para eles, que iam sempre atrás das "mais fáceis". Eu entendia, nem sempre eu me entendia também.

Tinha fortes sentimentos, achava que era amor, mas não me via num futuro com eles, a vida que se passava diante dos meus olhos era no mínimo desesperadora.

E aí você chegou, e eu continuei complicada, cheia de exigências, cheia de limites e ressalvas, e você subiu no muro que eu construir tão bem fortificado, pulou para dentro, me abraçou e não me largou mais.

Você faz essas questões de queimar pontes, de fazer da certo, de não largar a mão, e isso é assustador para caralho, pois tô acostumada a começos e fins, nunca a continuações.

O futuro que vejo a seu lado é ainda mais assustador, porque pela primeira vez eu sorriu ao pensar nisso, pela primeira vez eu quero filhos, uma casa, um cachorro, plantas, filmes + sexo no domingo a tarde, missa a noite, e um lupin infinito disso.

O conforto da sua presença é assustador. É como aquele velho dito popular " gato escaldado tem medo de água fria". Eu te amo, obrigada por existir. Você fez minha vida valer a pena até aqui.

Essa é para você Will Lirio.

[manuel31victor]

[o-inimitavel7]

[nabatidadamusica]

“Uma hora vai passar esse frio na barriga que vejo quando ela passa perto de mim ou até mesmo em metros longe . Uma hora passa toda essa sensação de sentir no vento o cheiro dela, uma hora vai passar mas até lá … é o que há .”

[dorelisssss]

[anonimoouusss]

[everlastinglonelinesss]

No hay nada que celebrar.

Desde hace años veo los cumpleaños como clavos en la memoria, haciéndome retorcer de dolor. Cuando llegan estas fechas me doy cuenta de lo sola que estoy, estuve y estaré. Me doy cuenta de todo lo que no hice y de todo lo que hice mal, fracaso tras fracaso.

No soporto la atención, no quiero recibir llamadas ni mensajes. Tampoco las expectativas de los demás en cómo debo estar en ese día. Tampoco quiero regalos, no necesito absolutamente nada. Solo quiero el silencio.

Me aterra hacerme mayor, envejecer, fracasar, perder lo poco que tengo, no llegar a nada, no ser nadie, olvidar, recordar únicamente lo malo, ser incapaz de vivir, sufrir constantemente, no reconocerme en el espejo.

Las expectativas son demasiado altas, tengo ganas de saltar.

[spanishskulduggery]

Hola, I wanted to ask for a clarification on something. I think I confused myself with reflexive verbs and gustar and verbs like it. Reflexive verbs use the "me/te/se/nos/os/se", but gustar uses "me/te/le..." etc. Because a reflexive verb is usually an action being done to yourself, we use se. But why don't we use se for gustar? Or le/les for reflexive verbs? I'm a little lost trying to understand why they're different.

What you're asking is the difference between a reflexive and an indirect object; and I'm going to start with a reflexive because I find them easier to understand

A reflexive is when the subject and object are the same - something one does to themselves (or in reciprocal/plural, something multiple people do to each other)

The basic example that I always like to use is lavar "to wash" - you can lavar la ropa "wash clothes", and lavar a alguien "to wash someone", and in this case the "clothes" and "someone" are considered direct objects [things that receive the action of the verb, as in, the clothes are what is getting washed etc]

A reflexive would be lavarse "to wash oneself"

You have lavarse las manos "to wash one's hands", literally "to wash oneself the hands" - the idea being that it is yourself, the hands are just part of you and obviously part of you (this is a thing that happens with many body parts where ownership is considered implied) - so you are the one washing and the one being washed. That's reflexive. And what is being washed is "the hands", which are the direct object here

Please note - there are other ways reflexives are used, and specifically times se shows up that aren't truly reflexive, and I don't want to confuse you or bog you down with more information than you need but just be aware there's the basic true "reflexive", and then also there are times when se shows up for seemingly no reason and it's just grammatical quirks of Spanish

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An indirect object (also called dative in linguistics and languages with case systems, like German, Latin, Russian etc) is to mark who is the intended recipient of an action, who is benefiting, who something is done for

"to whom or for whom something is done"... that's why it's indirect

[Note: "who" is often a subject, "whom" is an object; if you take German you'll see this more but it's one of the carry-overs from German just in English as far as "whom" taking an extra letter]

You do something to something (directly), but it's for someone else... so that's why it's indirect

A common example I use is mandar la carta "to send a letter", the one "sending" is the subject, the "letter" is the object... but who is it going to?

le mando la carta "I am sending the letter to him/her"... where the "him/her" is receiving the action of sending the letter but not being acted upon directly... an indirect object

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Here's where we get into the double-edged sword of gustar

On the one hand, super common absolutely everywhere, needs to be taught

On the other hand, it is often taught as "to like" which is basically true but becomes confusing for people later on when they come across the indirect objects. Teachers do their best to mitigate it but it's kinda unavoidable

gustar is NOT "to like" when used with indirect objects; it is "to be pleasant to" or "to be pleasing to"

When you say me gusta el libro "I like the book" what you're actually saying is "the book is pleasing to me"; and me gustan los libros "I like the books" is "the books are pleasing to me"

This is why gustar is showing up in 3rd person - they're the true "subject" and that's why gustar is often conjugated like this

This also extends to gustar-like verbs like fascinar, apetecer, interesar, importar, preocupar, and so on...

As in me sorprende is "it surprises me", literally "it evokes surprise in me"

...

To be clear here - a reflexive is when the subject and object are the same

Direct object and indirect object phrases are not phrased like that. Direct objects have one subject acting on something [mandar la carta for example], and indirect objects mention who benefits from something being acted upon [mandar(le) la carta (a alguien)]

A reflexive would have you doing the action and being the recipient, so in theory you could say me mando una carta "I send myself a letter"

Many verbs can be reflexive if they apply to the subject; if they apply to someone else, they're often direct or indirect objects

While not super common, me gusto can be used as "I like myself"

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Also just to be clear about the object pronouns:

Direct objects: me, te, lo/la, los/las, nos, os

Indirect objects: me, te, le, les, nos, os

Reflexives: me, te, se, nos, os

For yo, tú, nosotros/nosotras, and vosotros/vosotras the objects are the exact same

Which means that ~in general but not always~ you don't have to worry too much about whether a sentence is technically direct or indirect

The big issue is 3rd person (+ usted/ustedes which conjugate like 3rd person) - whether it's going to be lo or le or se

In general though it will depend on the context of the sentence. As an example alegrar "to make someone happy" uses indirect objects, while alegrarse is "to become happy"

Whether you're saying le alegra "it makes them happy" or se alegra "he/she is happy/they are glad"

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Also for more information:

Anatomy of Spanish: Direct Objects

Anatomy of Spanish: Indirect Objects

[melancolica-mente]

Espelho

Segundo por segundo

Me perco no presente

Sou buraco negro, sem fundo

Sou dúvida insistente

Identidade não tenho

Fui pintada por fracassos

Sou um futuro promissor

Estilhaçado em mil pedaços

Onde deu errado?

Questionamento que já não faço

Dói encarar a verdade

Desejo tornou-se escasso

Não nasci para felicidade

Sina que me afunda

Nasci abraçada na adversidade

Viverei eterna penumbra

Me decepciona a realidade

Da qual nunca consegui escapar

Minha fraqueza e mediocridade

Com as quais nunca soube lidar

Indigente na multidão,

Espelho trinca diante minha face

Diante da minha falta de dimensão

Esperando que minha carne se despedace

Sou a falência, uma mera ilusão

Criada para atormentar alma sem estrada

Resigno-me a ausência de diferente opção

A viver em derrota depravada

Lamento a esperança que um dia existiu

Lamento sua luta e desespero

Faço um brinde aquela que um dia pensou

Que abraçaria o mundo inteiro

[thecanvasofmadness]

Qué decepción es ser leído y robado, en lugar de ser respetado y aplaudido. De verdad, que es una mentada de madre y jamás entenderé a las personas que lo hacen. ¿Qué tienen en la cabeza? ¿Por qué piensan que las palabras, que la literatura, pueden ser tomadas como si no tuvieran ningún valor? ¿Acaso van tomando las cosas que ven en la calle como si fuesen propias? ¿Se llevan a su casa los árboles que ven, las macetas, los adornos, las sillas, las mesas, todo lo que ven en la calle? ¿Eso hacen? Si no hacen eso con los objetos que ven en la calle ¿por qué lo hacen con la literatura? Las letras tienen dueño, y es quien las escribe. El arte tiene un sello particular, no se hace solo: lo hacemos todos aquellos que nos arriesgamos a crear algo de nuestro puño y letra. ¿No merecemos respeto, al menos, porque nos atrevemos a crear, por muy pobre o mediocre que sea?

What a disappointment it is to be read and stolen, instead of being respected and applauded. Really, it's an insult and I will never understand the people who do it. What's in their heads? Why do they think that words, that literature, can be taken as if they had no value? Do they take the things they see in the street as if they were their own? Do they take home the trees they see, the flowerpots, the ornaments, the chairs, the tables, everything they see in the street? Is that what they do? If they don't do that with the objects they see in the street, why do they do it with literature? Letters have an owner, and it is the one who writes them. Art has a particular stamp, it is not made alone: it is made by all of us who take the risk of creating something in our own handwriting. Don't we deserve respect, at least, because we dare to create, no matter how poor or mediocre it may be?

[caminhadacomdeus]

Crescimento espiritual: um caminho de aprendizagem, fé, oração e gratidão.

[waltfrasescazadordepalabras]

No soy mujer de flores ni chocolates, de anillos al dedo y promesas al viento Soy la hembra que pare, da vida y aliento Soy la madre de uno, de todos, de cientos Soy la niña que juega, la madre que espera Soy la amante que ama, la otra que yerra Soy mujer de risas de llantos, miradas directas labios abiertos De piel encendida, de abrazos honestos De amores presentes, intensos y ciertos Soy mujer de curvas llanuras extensas, calor, humedad ...rincones secretos, profundas cañadas...anchos desiertos, manantiales azules y bosques espesos Soy la pura la impura Soy la virgen la puta Soy la grande la chica, la joven la vieja Soy ángel soy diablo, el cielo y tu infierno

[uma-menteinquieta]

Hoje, podendo me dar ao luxo de assistir filmes com mais de 2h de duração ( e obrigada Deus, por me permitir folgar todos os finais de semana). Aproveitei meu primeiro fim de semana de folga, assistindo O Grande Gatsby.

Minhas considerações finais são: Intragável e um murro no estômago, daqueles dados bem na boca do estômago que te fazem perder o ar, te deixam tontos e com ânsia.

Sim, caros leitores, neste momento escrevo isto enquanto fumo um cigarro e ouço Lana Del Rey, minha mente sempre inquieta gira e o coração galopa com o peso dessa obra.

Gatsby, nos ensina que não podemos construir o presente e futuro almejando alcançar o passado. O passado... Ah, o passado ele sempre estará lá e por mais palpável que ele nos pareça, nada do que está lá voltará a ser como era, porquê ele é justamente o passado. Você não pode desejar voltar ao passado e acreditar que irá vive-lo de onde ele parou. Querer viver e reviver o passado, é nada mais que se aprisionar e está prisão estará dentro de você mesmo, te corroendo, te perseguindo, te destruindo.

Caros leitores, digo isto sem medo de estar errada, O PASSADO ESTÁ CHEIO DE EXPECTATIVAS IRREAIS.

O que poderia ter sido não foi porquê não era para ser. Se em algum momento tivéssemos dito A ou B, escolhido C ou D no final das contas, o que tem um fim, terá um fim. Seja ele digno ou não, o que queríamos ou não.

Abraçar o presente e o futuro desejando o passado, é nada mais do que matarmos a nós mesmos. (Tão semelhante aconteceu a Jay Gatsby).

E se vocês, por um acaso, acharem que podem reviver o passado, tão qual Gatsby achou que reviveria com Daisy... Lembrem-se de um trecho da citação de Heráclito: "Ninguém pode entrar duas vezes no mesmo rio, pois quando nele se entra novamente, não se encontra as mesmas águas, e o próprio ser já se modificou."