Reflexive Pronouns & Verbs (& Reciprocal Verbs) PDF

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a reflexive verb is one in which the action reverts back to the subject o He considers himself intelligent. o They amuse themselves playing ball. in English, the reflexive meaning is often understood but not expressed o I washed (myself) in the morning. o He shaved (himself) last night. NOTE: Italian often uses the reflexive form of a verb where English used “to get + another word” in Italian, reflexive verbs are always conjugated with reflexive pronouns; reflexive pronouns are the same as object pronouns except for the third-person singular and plural forms 1st person singular 2nd person singular 3rd person singular 1st person plural 2nd person plural 3rd person plural

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myself i yourself/oneself/himself/herself ourselves yourselves yourselves/themselves

reflexive verbs can be recognized by the endings “-arsi, -ersi, and -irsi”; the “-si” is the third-person reflexive pronoun attached to the infinitive with the final “-e” dropped -are  -arsi lavarsi: to wash mi lavo ti lavi si lava ci laviamo vi lavate si lavano

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mi t si ci vi si

-ere  -ersi mettersi: to put on (wear) mi metto ti met si mette ci metamo vi mettete si mettono

-ire  -irsi vestirsi: to get dressed mi vesto ti vesti si veste ci vestiamo vi vestite si vestono

reflexive pronouns precede conjugated verb forms but are attached to the infinitive; even when the verb is in the infinitive, its reflexive pronoun agrees with the subject o Ho bisogno di lavarmi. (I need to wash (myself).) o Perché’ preferite alzarvi presto? (Why do you prefer to get (yourself) up early?) when a reflexive infinitive is used with a form of “dovere, potere, or volere,” the reflexive pronoun can be attached to the infinitive or precede the entire verb phrase o Il bambino non vuole vestirsi. (The child doesn’t want to get (themselves) dressed.) o Il bambino non si vuole vestire. (The child doesn’t want to get dressed.) o Il bambino non ha voluto vestirsi. (The child refused to get dressed.) o Il bambino non si è voluto vestire. (The child refused to get dressed.) NOTE: when the reflexive pronoun preceded “dovere, potere, or volere” in a compound tense, these verbs are conjugated with “essere” in compound tenses, all reflexive verbs are conjugated with “essere,” and the past participle agrees in gender and number with the subject o Cristina si è vestita in fretta. (Christina got (herself) dressed in a hurry.) o Perché’ vi siete arrabbiarti? (Why did you get (yourself) angry?)

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using reflexive and reciprocal verbs o the reflexive is used in Italian when the subject performs an action on a part of his or her body (I washed my face. They put on their gloves.); in Italian, the definite article is used with parts of the body and clothing instead of the possessive adjectives as in English  Mi sono lavato la faccia. (I washed my face.)  Si mettono i guanti. (They put on their gloves.)  some common reflexive verbs…  accorgersi (di) (to notice)  alzarsi (to get up)  annoiarsi (to get bored)  divertirsi (to have a good time)  appoggiarsi (to learn)  lamentarsi (di) (to complain (about))  laurearsi (to graduate (from a university))  riposarsi (to rest)  sentirsi (to feel)  svegliarsi (to wake up) o the reflexive form is also used to express meanings that are not reflexive; verbs can be used reflexively to emphasize the involvement of the subject in the action expresses by the verb  Ho comprato una bicicletta. (I bought a bicycle.)  Mi sono comprato/a una bicicletta. (I bought myself a bicycle.) o some verbs (to express reciprocal/mutual actions (each other, one another)) use the reciprocal pronouns “ci, vi, and si”; since reciprocal actions involve two or more people, these verbs are always conjugated in the plural form  Lorenzo ed io ci amiamo. (Lorenzo and I love each other.)  Ci siamo visti ieri sera. (We saw each other last night.)  Si sono conosciuto all’università. (They met (each other) at the university.)  Vi scrivete ogni giorno. (You write to each other every day.)  some common reciprocal verbs…  abbracciarsi (to hug each other)  aiutarsi (to help each other)  amarsi (to love each other)  baciarsi (to kiss each other)  conoscersi (to get to know each other)  consolarsi (to comfort each other)  incontrarsi (to meet each other)  innamorarsi (to fall in love with each other)  insultarsi (to insult each other)  rispettarsi (to respect each other)  rivedersi (to see each other once again)  salutarsi (to say hello to each other)  sposarsi (to marry each other)  vedersi (to see each other) REFLEXIVE VERBS IN THE PASSATO PROSSIMO

**they are conjugated with essere**

-arsi  -are  -ato alzarsi (io) mi sono alzato/a (tu) ti sei alzato/a (lui/lei) si è alzato/a (noi) ci siamo alzati/e (voi) vi siete alzati/e (loro) si sono alzati/e 

-ersi  -ere  -uto sedersi (io) mi sono seduto/a (tu) ti sei seduto/a (lui/lei) si è seduto/a (noi) ci siamo seduti/e (voi) vi siete seduti/e (loro) si sono seduti/e

examples of irregular verbs o mettersi  mettere  messo  Mi sono messo/a… (I started…) o togliersi  togliere  tolto  Mi sono tolto… (I took off.)

-irsi  ire  ito verstirsi (io) mi sono vestito/a (tu)ti sei vestito/a (lui/lei) si è vestito/a (noi) ci siamo vestite/i (voi) vi siete vestiti/e (loro) si sono vestiti/e...