When the action “reflects” itself on the subject.
In Spanish we have something called Reflexive Verbs. We use them when the effect of the action is “reflected” on the subject, so, on the person, animal, or thing that is performing that action.
For example:
Llamar > to call
Llamarse > to be named
So…
Hoy voy a llamar a mi amigo Carlos
Today I’m going to call mi friend Carlos
but…
Yo me llamo (llamarse) Claudio
Mi name is Claudio
You can recognize them for the “SE” attached to the infinitive form. You can conjugate them as normal verbs…, plus the “Reflexive Pronoun” as you can see here:
LLAMARSE
yo ME llamo
tú TE llamas
el / ella / usted SE llama
nosotros/as NOS llamamos
vosotros/as OS llamáis
ellos / ellas / ustedes SE llaman
As you can notice, here in the Present Tense, I’m using the Reflexive Pronouns before the verb, with a space in between:
Tú TE llamas Mark
Your name is Mark
If you have more than one verb on your phrase, then we can put that “ME, TE, SE, NOS, OS, SE” attached to the end of the conjugated verb, just like this:
So…, in a phrase like this one:
“Queremos encontrarNOS con Sara”.
The sense is that the action of “meeting up” is reflected on us all. We meet up with Sara, and Sara meet up with us at the same time: “Queremos encontrarnos con Sara”.
I hope this will be useful for you, as well as for other people reading this blog!
That being said, in case you want to push yourself beyond the correct use of REFLEXIVE VERBS in Spanish, maybe finding new and powerful resources, plus the opportunity to practice your Spanish by talking in a professionally managed environment, if you want, you can take a look at our Live Conversation Classes (384 Classes available per YEAR — 1 to 6 students per class) 🙂
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Qué tengas un maravilloso día!
Claudio
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Claudio
Professional Spanish Coach with 15+ years of experience.
"Do what you love and focus your energy on creating what you want in your life. Your energy goes where your thoughts go, and so does your life itself. You have to believe that you are worthy of what you want, you have to believe that you deserve what you want, and you have to act.
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