PDA

Reflexive verbs help please

View Full Version : Reflexive verbs help please


HSMike2
July 22, 2013, 04:40 PM
Are reflexive verbs only used for yourself/your own attributes? (ex: hair)

Me lavo la espalda.
Me cepillo las dientes

Or is it also for possessions aswell since they belong to me, such as a car?

I was playing an online video game which involves cars and somebody said
"Se compra auto Volkswagen"

I'm guessing that translates to: Buy yourself a Volkswagen car
He doesn't need an en for a preposition in between compra and auto like you would in English?

me comprare coche mañana noche.
Is that correct? I will buy myself a car tomorrow night.

Thanks for any help everyone, reflexive verbs are strange for me since they don't really exist in English. Object/Indirect objects also make zero sense to me at the moment too lol.

Rusty
July 22, 2013, 05:24 PM
Reflexive verbs are only used to reflect back on the subject, yes.
The other case you mentioned is not a reflexive use.

Pronominal verbs are the verbs whose infinitive form ends in -se. Reflexive verbs are pronominal verbs, but they aren't the only pronominal verbs.

I believe you meant 'un' instead of 'en' when you asked the question about placing a preposition before 'auto'. Actually, 'un' is needed, but it isn't a preposition. It's an article. In particular, it's the indefinite article and translates as 'a' or 'an' in English.

Me compraré un carro/coche/auto mañana por la noche.
I will buy myself a car tomorrow night. (The car is for me.)

Compraré un carro mañana por la noche.
I'll buy a car tomorrow night. (It may be for me or it may be for someone else; this isn't known without more context.)

Se compra un auto Volkswagen. = He/She is buying a Volkswagen car. | You are buying a Volkswagen car.
The pronominal verb in this sentence is conjugated in the present tense, not the imperative mood ('buy yourself a car' is a command and it has a very different conjugation). Note that I didn't call the verb a reflexive verb. This is because it is a pronominal verb. That simply means that the verb has a pronoun.

There are many more things that can be said about pronominal verbs. Have a look at this thread (http://forums.tomisimo.org/showthread.php?t=13735) to see if it helps any.