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Verbi riflessivi


GRAMMATICA

THERE ARE SOME VERBS THAT JUST  TAKE THE REFLEXIVE FORM.

Their meaning is not really "reflexive," but for some reason are used only in the reflexive.

 

IN ENGLISH THERE IS ONLY ONE VERB THAT TAKES ALWAYS AND ONLY THE REFLEXIVE FORM

"TO PERJURE ONESELF"

 

ARRABBIARSI    

CALMARSI

SENTIRSI MALE

AMMALARSI

DIVERTIRSI

ANNOIARSI

RICORDARSI DI + INFINITIVE

RIPOSARSI

DIMENTICARSI

PENTIRSI

ALZARSI

SVEGLIARSI

DISTRARSI

LAMENTARSI

 to get angry

to calm down

to feel sick

to fall ill

to have fun

to get bored

to remember to do something

to rest

to forget

to repent

to get up

to wake up

to get distracted

to complain
 

ESERCIZIO 1

Write one sentence for each of the verbs above.
Use only NOUNS (people and things) and NOI and VOI as subjects.

 

 

 

 

Reflexive means that a verb has the same SUBJECT and OBJECT

SPIEGAZIONE
 


Ex: I WASH MYSELF

I  and  MYSELF
 are the same person.

LAVARE  ► to wash something

LAVARSI  ► to wash oneself

io lavo

I wash

 MI io mi   lavo

I wash myself

tu lavi

 TI

tu ti  lavi
lui lava SI lui-lei  si  lava
noi laviamo CI noi ci  laviamo
voi lavate VI voi vi  lavate
loro lavano SI loro si  lavano
mi, ti, si, ci, vi, si  are reflexive pronouns

they are the equivalent of English
myself, yourself, himself etc.

 

How do we get  IO MI CHIAMO?

the verb is CHIAMARE (to call)

IO MI CHIAMO literally means I CALL MYSELF

therefore

 

io chiamo

I call

 MI io mi   chiamo

I call myself

tu chiami

 TI

tu ti  chiami
lui chiama SI lui-lei  si  chiama
noi chiamiamo CI noi ci  chiamiamo
voi chiamate VI voi vi  chiamate
loro chiamano SI loro si  chiamano

 

A LIST OF VERBS IN THE REFLEXIVE FORM

 

LAVARE => LAVARSI  : TO WASH ONESELF

guardare => guardarsi : to look at oneself

odiare => odiarsi: to hate oneself

amare => amarsi: to love oneself

uccidere => uccidersi : to kill oneself

salvare => salvarsi: to save oneself

pulire => pulirsi: to clean up (to clean oneself)
Practically any verb that can have the same person as SUBJECT and OBJECT can become REFLEXIVE (it's a matter of logic only.)
 

Il gatto si lecca quando si lava / si pulisce   the cat licks itself when it cleans itself

Una persona vanesia si guarda spesso allo specchio  a vain person looks at him/herself in the mirror often

Un narcisista si ama molto  a narcissist loves him/herself a lot

Un masochista si fa male   a masochist hurts himself

COME SI DICE?  to ask => I ask myself  

 

 

grammatica

 

REFLEXIVE WITH AN INFINITIVE VERB

 

  • You are familiar with the structure: 

    IO VOGLIO LAVARE la mia macchina      I want to wash my car

    VOGLIO + INFINITIVE form of the verb.

     

  • Now you want to say: I want to wash myself.

Where would you place the reflexive pronoun "myself"?

1) Since the SUBJECT is IO, the reflexive pronoun is MI

IO VOGLIO LAVAR-MI  (Io voglio lavarmi)

The reflexive pronoun is attached to the end: LAVARE-MI ► LAVARMI

io voglio lavarmi


THE REFLEXIVE PRONOUN
IS ATTACHED TO THE END OF THE INFINITIVE

 

  • Io devo LAVARMI  
    I must WASH MYSELF
     

  • Tu  vuoi VESTIRTI per la festa
    You  want to GET DRESSED
     

  • Mia figlia non vuole PETTINARSI
    My daughter doesn't want to COMB HERSELF
     

  • Noi non vogliamo UCCIDERCI per il lavoro
    We don't want to KILL OURSELVES
     

  • Voi dovete SVESTIRVI 
    You must GET UNDRESSED
     

  • Loro possono FARSI MALE con il coltello
    They could HURT THEMSELVES 

ESERCIZIO

  • Using DOVERE- POTERE - VOLERE   write 8  sentences similar to the models above.

  • Avoid using subject pronouns (io, tu, lei etc.) USE CONCRETE NOUNS or REAL PEOPLE (fictional characters are OK. Actually they are more fun.)