Los verbos y pronombres reflexivos

Remember the analogy verb-car and pronoun-trailer?

In Spanish the infinitive verb ends in -AR, -ER or -IR.

Sometimes, infinitive verbs may end in -ARSE, -ERSE or -IRSE. These are reflexive verbs (verbos reflexivos) and the "SE" added to them is a reflexive pronoun (pronombre reflexivo). It tags along the verb just as a trailer is attached to a car.

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Reflexive verbs are called like this because their action is circular: the subject of the action is also the recipient of the action. I will explain with an example.

Peinar = to comb

Peinarse = to comb oneself

La madre peina a su hija = The mother combs her daughter.

La madre se peina = The mother combs herself.

In the first example, the verb is not reflexive. The action is to comb, the person doing the action (the subject) is the mother and the person receiving the action (the recipient) is the daughter.

In the second example, the verb is reflexive. The action is to comb, the subject is the mother and the recipient is also the mother. 

Let's take another example.

Llamar = to call

Llamarse = to call oneself

Yo llamo a mi madre por teléfono = I call my mother on the phone.

What is the action (the verb)? It is "llamo" (call).

Who does the action (the subject)? It is "Yo" (I).

Who gets the action? It is "mi madre" (my mother). Hence the verb is not reflexive.

Yo me llamo Isabel = I call myself Isabel (in other words, my name is Isabel).

What is the verb? It is "llamo" (call).

Who calls? It is "Yo" (I).

Who gets called? It is "me" (myself): same person! Thus, the verb is reflexive!

To drive-conjugate a reflexive verb, we need reflexive pronouns. We place the pronoun before the verb, like this:

Yo me llamo = I call myself

Tú te llamas = You call yourself

Él/ella se llama = He/she calls himself/herself

Usted se llama = You call yourself (formal)

Nosotros/-as nos llamamos = We call ourselves

Vosotros/-as os llamáis = You  call yourselves

Ellos/-as se llaman = They call themselves

Ustedes se llaman = You call yourselves (formal)

So the reflexive pronouns are: ME, TE, SE (singular); and NOS, OS, SE (plural).

Note: in Spanish, we have a reflexive verb to say "my surname is". It is the verb "apellidarse" (apellido = surname).

Yo me apellido Torres Cruzado = My surname is Torres Cruzado.

Mi padre se apellida Torres Sanz = My father's surname is Torres Sanz.

Can you conjugate the verb "apellidarse" in present tense? 

Check correction here.