In Spanish, many verbs are used with a reflexive pronoun:
me, te, se, nos, os, se
These verbs are called pronominal verbs (or reflexive verbs) and they show that:
the action happens to the same person who does it, or
the verb describes a change of state (physical or emotional)
Look at these two common verbs:
levantarse = to get up
sentirse = to feel
We don’t say:
❌ yo levanto (when talking about waking up)
We say:
✅ yo me levanto → I get up
Because the action goes back to the subject: I lift myself up.
The same with emotions:
❌ yo siento feliz
✅ yo me siento feliz → I feel happy
Here me means myself — the feeling is inside the person.
Conjugation pattern
levantarse
yo me levanto
tú te levantas
él / ella / usted se levanta
nosotros/as nos levantamos
vosotros/as os levantáis
ellos/as / ustedes se levantan
The verb changes and the pronoun changes.