Nov
29
10 Spanish verbs that change meaning when they become reflexive
There are several Spanish verbs that change meaning when used with reflexive pronouns. This can be maddening to Spanish language learners, especially to beginners. Here’s a round-up of some commonly-used Spanish verbs that change meaning when they hook up with a reflexive pronoun. (And if there is a preposition listed, remember to include that when you use these verbs to ensure that you’re 100% grammatically correct.)
1. acordar: to decide, to agree acordarse de: to remember
2. aprovechar: to seize an opportunity, to put something to good use
aprovecharse de: to take advantage of a person or a situation, to trick someone
3. burlar: to evade, to trick burlarse de: to make fun of, to mock
4. comer: to eat comerse: to eat up
5. despedir: to fire despedirse de: to say good-bye to
6. dorimir: to sleep dormirse: to fall asleep
7. negar: to deny negarse a: to refuse to
8. ofrecer: to offer something to someone
ofrecerse a: to offer to do something
9. quedar: to result in, to fit, to agree quedarse: to remain
10. sentir: to be sorry sentirse: to feel
November 29th, 2008 at 2:39 pm
Hi! Just wanted to point out something about the difference between “aprovechar” and “aprovecharse de”:
Actually, “aprovecharse de” means to take advantage in the sense of exploiting, but it does not have to be of a person.
Ex: Se han aprovechado de la situación.
“Aprovechar” is used in the sense of making the most of something, and it does not use the preposition “de.”
Ex: Quiero aprovechar esta oportunidad al máximo.
un saludo
November 29th, 2008 at 3:47 pm
Hi Kasey!
Thanks for the corrections!
November 30th, 2008 at 6:53 am
Great Stuff, Thanks!
November 30th, 2008 at 7:22 am
Me quedé con la duda sobre el verbo “comerse”:
Sé que uno puede decir “El bacalao se come durante las fiestas navideñas”,
pero “Me comí un pan” en incorrecto (por lo menos en México)
como lo ofreces a usar tú? Tal vez, unos ejemplos nos serverían mucho?
November 30th, 2008 at 7:48 am
Durazno,
La verdad es que no lo sé. El español de México es una asignatura pendiente para mí. Yo sé que la construcción “comerse” se usa para referirse a la totalidad de la acción.
Por ejemplo, hay una diferencia entre “comí pizza” vs. “me comí una pizza.”
Persona 1: ¿Qué comiste ayer?
Persona 2: Comí pizza. (I ate pizza) [Could've been one slice, two slices, whatever, the person isn't saying. They're just stating that they ate pizza.]
Persona 1: ¿Qué comiste ayer?
Persona 2: Tenía tanta hambre que me comí una pizza. ¡Estaba riquísima! (I was so hungry that I ate an entire pizza. It was delicious!) [In this case, it may be an exaggeration that the person ate an entire pizza but what is clear is that the speaker wants to indicate that he ate a lot of pizza, more than what would be considered normal.]
No sé, me parece que si alguien tiene mucha hambre, la idea de “comerse un pan” sería posible (El hombre se comió un pan. The man ate an entire loaf of bread.), ¿pero a lo mejor tiene un matiz extraño en México con la palabra “pan”?
December 5th, 2008 at 2:01 pm
Durazno, “me comí un pan” is perfect Spanish. Maybe in Mexico they don’t use this expression, but it’s 100% grammatically correct anywhere.
Perhaps the confusion comes from the word “pan”. It has 2 meanings: bread (in general) and also “loaf” or “piece of bread”, as in “un pan de pueblo”, “un pan de hogaza” “un pan gallego”, etc, etc.
Eleena is, as usual, right: “comí pizza” means I ate some pizza (similar to the French partitive), “me comí una pizza” means I ate an entire pizza, “comí una pizza” sounds strange to me but would mean something like “I had a pizza for lunch”.
On the other hand, “me comí pizza” is simply not Spanish, doesn’t make any sense.
December 6th, 2008 at 11:09 pm
Roberto,
Muchas gracias por tu explicación.