Reflexive and Reciprocal Verbs by Fernanda L. Ferreira, Ph.D.
Some verbs in Portuguese are labeled “reflexive” and/or “reciprocal.” Reflexive verbs reflect an action that is done to the agent to itself. They can be translated to English by using the reflexive pronouns “ — self” and “ — selves,” as in eu me chamo (I call myself). By the same token, reciprocal verbs can be translated to English by using the construction “each other.” In this case, the action is done to an entity, which in turn does the same action to the other entity, as in the expression se beijam (they kiss each other). In Portuguese, reflexive and reciprocal verbs are conjugated by using reflexive pronouns, as listed below.
Reflexive and Reciprocal Pronouns
Pronoun + Verb |
English |
eu me chamo |
I call myself |
você se chama |
you call yourself |
ele/ela se chama |
he/she calls him/herself |
nós nos chamamos |
we call ourselves |
vocês se chamam |
you (pl.) call yourselves |
eles/elas se chamam |
they call themselves |
Notice that the pronoun is placed before the verb and that the pronouns serve for both reflexive and reciprocal ideas.
Not all reflexive verbs in Portuguese have a corresponding English reflexive verb. In the case of chamar-se (to call oneself) this works out fine, but there are reflexive verbs in Portuguese that are not reflexive in English, such as levantar-se (to get up), which is not considered reflexive in English.
Here is a list of common reflexive verbs in Portuguese:
TRACK 76
Common Reflexive Verbs
Verb |
English |
lavar-se |
to wash oneself |
vestir-se |
to put on clothes, to dress oneself |
olhar-se |
to look at oneself |
pentear-se |
to brush/comb oneself |
sentar-se |
to seat oneself |
divertir-se |
to entertain oneself, to have fun |
deitar-se |
to go to bed, to retire |
machucar-se |
to hurt oneself |
reunir-se |
to get together |
In order to conjugate the verb, you must drop the -se and add one of the reflexive pronouns according to the grammatical person. So deitar-se would be conjugated as eu me deito (I go to bed) for the first person singular.
