The Italian Reflexive Verbs: A Guide 

What’s a Reflexive Verb in Italian?

Reflexive verbs are verbs that require a reflexive pronoun in their conjugation and their default form (the infinitive). The reflexive pronoun reflects the action of the verb back to the subject. For example:

• Svegliarsi = to wake oneself up
• Divertirsi = to have fund
• Arrabbiarsi = to get mad 

Reflexive verbs are the same as regular verbs, with the exception of the reflexive pronoun. The only difference is that reflexive verbs have the reflexive pronoun “so” added to the end of the infinitive form.

How Do You Conjugate Reflexive Verbs in Italian?

To conjugate reflexive verbs in Italian, follow these steps:

1. Remove the “si” from the end of the infinitive form of the verb.
2. Add an “e” to the infinitive form. 
3. Conjugate the verb as any other regular verb 
4. Don’t forget to use the corresponding reflexive pronouns  for the subject in front of the conjugated verb.

1. Remove the “si” ending → lavar 
2. Add an “e” to the end→ lavar+ e = LAVARE
3. Conjugate “lavare” (in any tense you want!)
4. Add the reflexive pronouns (mi, ti, si, ci, vi, si) in front of the conjugated forms.

Lavarsi (to wash oneself) 

Another way to conjugate reflexive verbs in Italian is to drop the last four letters of the infinitive form and add the appropriate conjugation endings.

For example, the reflexive verb “divertirsi” (to have fun) becomes “divert” as the root verb, and the conjugation endings can be added, such as:

Divertirsi – to have fun 

• Svegliarsi — to wake [oneself] up
• Alzarsi – to get up
• Lavarsi – to wash oneself
• Pettinarsi – to comb one’s hair
• Sedersi – to sit down
• Sentirsi – to feel
• Spogliarsi – to undress
• Addormentarsi – to fall asleep
• Truccarsi – to put on make-up
• Farsi la doccia – to take a shower
• Chiamarsi – to be named
• Laurearsi – to graduate (from university)
• Diplomarsi – to graduate (from school)
• Allenarsi – to work out
• Impegnarsi – to work hard
• Ubriacarsi – to get drunk
• Farsi la barba – to shave
• Innamorarsi – to fall in love
• Lamentarsi  – to complain
• Stressarsi – to get stressed
• Innervosirsi – to get nervous
• Ammalarsi – to get sick
• Vestirsi – to get dressed
• Annoiarsi – to get bored

Italian Reflexive Verbs & the Past Tense 

This is an intermediate grammar topic, so if you are a beginner, you can skip it for now.

Italian grammar is made up of simple tenses and compound tenses.

A simple tense is a simple verb (made of just one verb, e.g., the present simple), while a compound tense is a verb made of a combination of a helping verb (auxiliary verb) and another verb, the past participle (e.g., the past perfect). 

When a reflexive verb appears in a compound form, for example, the past tense, the auxiliary will always be “essere”. 

To conjugate reflexive verbs into the past tense in Italian, follow this pattern:

• Subject 
• Reflexive pronoun (mi, ti, si, ci, vi, si)
• Helping verb (essere)
• Past participle

For example, the past tense (passato prossimo) of the verb “divertirsi”, “lavarsi” and “svegliarsi” would be 

Io mi sono divertito – I had fun

Ti sei lavato/a – you washed yourself 

Ci siamo svegliati/e – we woke up 

The same pattern applies for all of the other compound tenses (e.g. past perfect, compound future, past conditional, past subjunctive, etc.). In all of the compound forms, the helping verb will always be essere.

Also remember that, using essere as a helping verb implies that the past participle has to agree with the gender and number.

The pattern for conjugating reflexive verbs into other compound tenses, such as the past perfect, compound future, past conditional, past subjunctive, etc., remains the same. The auxiliary verb will always be “essere”.

It’s important to note that when using “essere” as the auxiliary verb, the past participle must agree in gender and number with the subject.

For example, in the past perfect tense:

• Io mi ero lavato (I had washed myself)
• Tu ti eri lavato (You had washed yourself)
• Lui/Lei si era lavato (He/She had washed himself/herself)
• Noi ci eravamo lavati (We had washed ourselves)
• Voi vi eravate lavati (You had washed yourselves)
• Loro si erano lavati (They had washed themselves)

When are the reflexive pronouns added onto the infinitive?

In Italian, reflexive pronouns are often appended onto infinitives to indicate that the subject of the sentence is performing the action on itself. This is particularly common with modal verbs and verbs that are followed by prepositions (e.g., finire di, smettere di, continuare a, etc.).

For example, in the sentence “Voglio svegliarmi presto domani,” the reflexive pronoun “mi” is added to the end of the infinitive “svegliare”. Similarly, in the sentence “Devo smettere di arrabbiarmi per le piccole cose,” the reflexive pronoun “mi” is added to the end of the infinitive “arrabbiare”.

In Italian, when certain verbs like “voglio” (I want) and “smettere di” (to stop) are followed by an infinitive, the infinitive cannot be conjugated, but the reflexive pronoun must still be declined to match the subject of the sentence.

More examples, 

• Continuiamo a rilassarci – We keep relaxing
• Hai finito di lamentarti – Are you done complaining? 

In both of these examples, the reflexive pronoun is added to the end of the infinitive to express a reflexive action, even though the infinitive cannot be conjugated.

Other Conjugations of Reflexive Verbs

Present → io mi diverto, tu ti diverti, lui/lei si diverte, noi ci divertiamo, voi vi divertite, loro si divertono

Present Perfect (passato prossimo) → mi sono divertito/a, tu ti sei divertito/a, lui si è divertito/ lei si è divertita, noi ci siamo divertiti/e, voi vi siete divertiti/e, loro si sono divertiti/e

Imperfect → io mi divertivo, tu ti divertivi, lui/lei si divertiva, noi ci divertivamo, voi vi divertivate, loro si divertivano 

Future Simple → io mi divertirò, tu ti divertirai, lui/lei si divertirà, noi ci divertiremo, voi vi divertirete, loro si divertiranno

Present Conditional → io mi divertirei, tu ti divertiresti, lui/lei si divertirebbe, noi ci divertiremmo, voi vi divertireste, loro si divertirebbero 

Present Subjunctive → io mi diverta, tu ti diverta, lui/lei si diverta, noi ci divertiamo, voi vi divertiate, loro si divertano 

Imperative (formal) → si diverta! 

In a few cases, the reflexive pronouns are attached to the end of the verb.

Imperative (informal)→ divertiti!

Gerund → divertendomi, divertendoti, divertendosi, divertendoci, divertendovi, divertendosi   

Infinitive → mi piace divertirmi, ti piace divertiti, gli/le piace divertirsi, ci piace divertirci, vi piace divertirvi, gli piace divertirsi

Reflexive Verbs and Parts of the Body

When using reflexive verbs with parts of the body, possessive pronouns are usually not used as it sounds redundant.

A common mistake in Italian language is to include possessive pronouns when not necessary when using reflexive verbs with parts of the body. For example: 

• Mi lavo le mia faccia – I wash my face (WRONG)
• Mi lavo la faccia – I wash my face (CORRECT)
• Mi lavo i miei capelli  – I wash my hair (WRONG)
• Mi lavo i capelli – I wash my hair (CORRECT)
• Mi faccia la mia barba – I shave (WRONG)
• Mi faccio la barba – I shave (CORRECT)

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