Talking about your activities on a typical day is a common topic of conversation questions like: “¿Cuál es tu rutina diaria?” – What ‘s your daily routine?, “¿Qué haces todos los días?” – What do you do on weekdays? In order to express daily routine some reflexive verbs are frequently used.
Reflexive pronouns
In English we use reflexive pronouns like: myself, yourself, himself, ourselves, themselves to express who is receiving the action. In Spanish the reflexive verbs use reflexive pronouns (me, te, se, nos, os) which are similar to English.
| me | myself | nos | ourselves |
| te | yourself | os | yourselves |
| se | himself /herself | se | themselves |
Reflexive verbs in daily routines
Reflexive verbs “reflect” the action back upon oneself, meaning that the person performing the action is also the one receiving it. These verbs are easily identified because they end in “-se” To give you an idea: “levantarse” (get up oneself), “bañarse” (take a shower oneself), “peinarse” (comb oneself), “divertirse” ( enjoy oneself) and so on.
“María se despierta temprano.” María wakes (herself) up.
“Los niños se acuestan tarde.” The children got to bed (themselves) late.
“Yo me cepillo los dientes.” I brush my teeth (myself).
“Nosotros nos vestimos rápido.” We get dressed (ourselves).
Non-reflexive verbs in everyday language
Not all the routine verbs are reflexive verbs; In fact, some many of them are plain verbs such as: “cocinar” (to cook), “limpiar” (clean) or “barrer” (to sweep).
“Susana cocina todos los días.” Susana cooks every day.
“Yo limpio mi casa los domingos.” I clean my house every Sunday.
Now you are able to express your everyday routine in Spanish, using reflexive verbs and non- reflexive verbs. At Bright Lingua you can find the most interactive and dynamic lessons to learn Spanish meaningfully.