If you have ever wondered what the mysterious little words mi, ti, si, ci, vi are doing in front of Italian verbs, you are in the right place.
In this article, we are diving into the world of reflexive verbs, in particular we will learn:
1. What reflexive verbs are
2. How to conjugate them
3. The difference between reflexive, reciprocal and idiomatic verbs
4. How reflexive verbs work in the Passato Prossimo
5. The most common reflexive verbs
Are you ready? Let’s dive in!
1. What reflexive verbs are
In Italian, a verb is reflective when the action reflects back onto the subject. In other words, the subject does something on itself.
e.g.:
• Mi lavo → I wash myself
• Lei si pettina → She brushes her hair
In English, you often add “myself”, “yourself”, etc.
But in italian, you may want to use a reflexive pronoun with a reflexive verb when the action is performed on the subject.
Let's see what reflexive pronouns exist in Italian:
• Mi - myself
• Ti - yourself
• Si - himself/herself/itself
• Ci - ourselves
• Vi - yourselves
• Si - themselves
You might be wondering now how to recognize a reflexive verb when you encounter one. Let me tell you a little trick: you will always recognize them because they end in –si in its infinitive form.
Can you think of any?
Later on in this article, I will give you a list of the most common ones, so ensure to read until the end!
2. How to conjugate them
Conjugating a reflexive verb could seem tricky, but it is easier than you imagine. Let me show you how to conjugate the verb alzarsi (to get up) at the present:
• Io mi alzo - I get up
• Tu ti alzi - You get up
• Lui/Lei si alza - He/She gets up
• Noi ci alziamo - We get up
• Voi vi alzate - You all get up
• Loro si alzano - They get up
3. The difference between reflexive, reciprocal, and idiomatic verbs
At this point, you may think that all reflexive verbs mean “doing something to the subject”, and you may also be right, because I did not tell you the whole truth. There are actually three categories that you must know.
1. True reflexive verbs
These are the verbs that hold the exact same features that we have seen so far, i.e. the subject performs the action on itself.
e.g.
• Lavarsi - to wash oneself
• Vestirsi - to get dressed
• Truccarsi - to put on makeup
• Pettinarsi - to comb one's hair
2. Reciprocal reflexive verbs
These are reflexive verbs whose actions are performed by two (or more) subjects at the same time on each other.
e.g.
• Abbracciarsi - to hug each other
• Vedersi - to see each other
• Sentirsi - to talk; keep in touch
• Aiutarsi - to help each other
3. Idiomatic reflexive verbs
These are tricky reflexive verbs that look reflexive only in their form. Indeed, they do not bear the same meaning (the action is not on the subject), but to be able to conjugate them you have to know how to conjugate a reflexive verb.
e.g.
• Accorgersi - to notice
• Rendersi conto - to realize
• Farsi male - to hurt oneself
• Mettersi a - to start (doing something)
Unfortunately, the only way to remember them is: studying and using them! :)
4. How reflexive verbs work in the Passato Prossimo
So far, we have seen the form, the meaning and how to use these infamous reflexive verbs, and it looks like we are making lots of progresses (we actually are!) But, you won’t be able to use them properly if you don’t train yourself to use them in the past tense, especially in the Passato Prossimo.
Here is the rule you have to master:
All reflexive verbs use Essere (to be) as their auxiliary verb.
So the structure is:
Mi/ti/si/ci/vi/si + Essere + Past Participle
N.B.: The Past Participle must always agree with gender and number of the subject!
e.g.:
• Mi sono alzata (feminine and singular, that is why the Past Participle ends in -a) - I woke up
• Mi sono alzato (masculine and singular, that is why the Past Participle ends in - o) - I woke up
Other examples:
• Ci siamo divertiti (masculine and plural, that is why the Past Participle ends in - i) - We had fun
• Ci siamo divertite (feminine and plural, that is why the Past Participle ends in -e) - We had fun
5. The most common reflexive verbs
We have finally reached almost the end of this article.
Congratulations if you made it until now!
As promised, here below are the most common verbs that are used with reflexive verbs:
o Addormentarsi - to fall asleep
o Abbronzarsi - to get a tan
o Allontanarsi - to go away; to distance oneself
o Alzarsi - to get up
o Annoiarsi - to get bored
o Chiamarsi - to call each other
o Divertirsi - to have fun
o Fermarsi - to stop
o Innamorarsi - to fall in love with
o Laurearsi - to graduate
o Lavarsi - to wash oneself
o Pettinarsi to comb one’s hair
o Prepararsi - to get ready
o Rilassarsi - to relax
o Riposarsi - to rest
o Sbrigarsi - to hurry up
o Sdraiarsi - to lie down
o Sedersi - to sit down
o Sposarsi - to get married
o Stancarsi - to get tired
o Svegliarsi - to wake up
o Truccarsi - to put on make up
o Ubriacarsi - to get drunk
o Vestirsi - to get dressed
That is all for today’s lesson!
I hope you found this article useful and that you learned something. Reflexive verbs might look intimidating at first, but once you understand the logic behind them, they become second nature. Use them when talking about your day, about how you feel, or about things you do to yourself. The more you use them, the more natural they will become.
The secret is practice!
Of course, if you have any questions or other topics you would like me to cover, let me know in the comments below.
Thank you for reading this article!
If you want to learn more about me, feel free to check out my profile. Ciao!
Germana
