Madrigals Magic Key to Spanish (135 page)

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Authors: Margarita Madrigal

Tags: #Reference, #Language Arts & Disciplines

BOOK: Madrigals Magic Key to Spanish
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RUBORIZARSE,
to blush, to flush

VOLVERSE,
to become

Se volvió loco. He went (
became
)
crazy
.

CUIDARSE,
to take care of yourself, to be careful

Se va a cuidar.
He’s going to take care of himself
.

PERDERSE,
to get lost

Se perdió.
You, he, she, it got lost
.

In the future form the pronoun can go either after or before the verb. Use whichever seems more comfortable to you.

EXAMPLES
:

I’m going to weigh myself
.
{
Voy a pesarme.
or
Me voy a pesar.
You’re going to weigh yourself
.
{
Va a pesarse.
or
Se va a pesar.
We’re going to weigh ourselves
.
{
Vamos a pesarnos.
or
Nos vamos a pesar.
They’re going to weigh themselves
.
{
Van a pesarse.
or
Se van a pesar.

Once in a while you will hear a Spanish-speaking person say. “Estoy pesándome,” thereby adding the pronoun to the present participle. This is correct, but of less frequent use than the construction where the pronoun precedes both verbs:
Me estoy pesando
.

EXAMPLES OF THE USE OF
REFLEXIVE VERBS

CAMBIARSE,
to change
(clothes)

PRESENT
PAST
(
PRETERITE
)
ME CAMBIO,
I change
ME CAMBIÉ,
I changed
SE CAMBIA,
you change
SE CAMBIÓ,
you changed
NOS CAMBIAMOS,
we change
NOS CAMBIAMOS,
we changed
SE CAMBIAN,
they change
SE CAMBIARON,
they changed

Me voy a cambiar.
I’m going to change
.

Me he cambiado.
I have changed
.

Me estoy cambiando.
I am changing
.

Me cambié la camisa.
I changed my shirt
.

Me cambié los zapatos.
I changed my shoes
.

María se cambió la ropa.
Mary changed her clothes
.

Roberto se está cambiando el traje.
Robert is changing his suit
.

Notice that no possessive pronouns are used in the sentences above.

QUITARSE,
to take off

PRESENT
PAST
(
PRETERITE
)
ME QUITO,
I take off
ME QUITÉ,
I took off
SE QUITA,
you take off
SE QUITÓ,
you took off
NOS QUITAMOS,
we take off
NOS QUITAMOS,
we take off
SE QUITAN,
they take off
SE QUITAN,
they take off

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