< Portuguese Grammar

reflexive verbs

A verb becomes reflexive when it’s used to talk about doing something to oneself, such as seating oneself at the table or waking one’s self up. In these cases, the subject and object of the sentence are the same. » Reflexive verbs express what a person does to him/herself.

Almost any verb can be used reflexively. Whenever the subject is receiving and doing the action at the same time, it’s reflexive. To make a verb reflexive just add a me or se to say myself (me), or yourself, himself, herself (se). These are called Reflexive Pronouns:

Eu me

Eu me levantei. ➜ I got myself up.

Você se

Você se levantou. ➜ You got yourself up

Ele se

Ele se levantou. ➜ He got himself up.

Ela se

Ela se levantou. ➜ She got herself up.

A gente se

A gente se levantou. ➜ We got ourselves up.

Eu não me lembro. I don't (myself) remember

Eu me chamo Juliana. I call myself Juliana.

Não vou me preocupar. I'm not going to worry (myself).

Você se machucou? Did you hurt yourself?

Eu me sentei. I sat (myself) down.

Nós nos divertimos. We enjoyed ourselves.