Spanish GCSE Reading and Grammar-Constance e Imran Episode 28 (learn through a novel)
Spanish Reflexive Verbs Explained — A Beginner’s Guide (me baño, te bañas + clear examples & reading practice)
In every blog you will always find the same format:
- The story episode in Spanish.
- The translation into English.
- A grammar explanation with examples from the story.
This way you can practise reading, understanding and grammar, all at the same time.
Episode 28
EspañolSe sientan en la playa, frente al mar. Todas las mañanas me levanto y voy a la escuela —piensa Maya—. Aprendo fórmulas, fechas, cosas que no me importan. Pero nadie me enseña a mirar. Cuando pinto, todo cobra sentido. El color es mi idioma. A veces creo que el mundo se divide entre quienes miran y quienes ven. Cuando pinto, entiendo lo que no puedo decir. Y no importa si soy mejor o peor. Es como dijo Miguel Ángel: “El mayor peligro no es apuntar demasiado alto y fallar, sino apuntar demasiado bajo y acertar.” Pintar es mi manera de respirar. Cada trazo me recuerda que sigo viva, aunque a veces no sepa quién soy. El arte no me salva, pero me explica. |
EnglishThey sit on the beach, facing the sea. Every morning I get up and go to school —thinks Maya—. I learn formulas, dates, things I don’t care about. But no one teaches me how to look. When I paint, everything makes sense. Color is my language. Sometimes I think the world is divided between those who look and those who see. When I paint, I understand what I can’t say. And it doesn’t matter if I’m better or worse at it. As Michelangelo said: “The biggest danger is not aiming too high and missing, but aiming too low and hitting.” Painting is my way of breathing. Every brushstroke reminds me that I’m still alive, even when I don’t know who I am. Art doesn’t save me, but it explains me. |
Grammar
We will study today a whole group of verbs. They are called “reflexive verbs” because the action ‘bounces back’ onto the same person — like a mirror reflection. The subject does the action, and the subject also receives the result. Examples:
- Yo me baño → I bathe myself.
- Yo me visto → I dress myself.
- Yo me despierto → I wake myself up / I wake up.
Other Reflexive Verbs are:
- lavarse, to wash oneself
- peinarse, to comb one’s hair
- vestirse, to dress oneself
- sentarse, to sit down
- pararse, to stand up, etc.
You need to remember that it is necessary to put an extra word with these verbs. It is called reflexive pronoun.
Yo me baño. I bathe myself.
Tú te bañas. You bathe yourself.
Él se baña. He bathes himself.
Ella se baña. She bathes herself.
Nosotros/nosotras nos bañamos. We bathe ourselves.
Vosotros/vosotras os bañáis. You all or you both bathe yourselves.
Ellos/ellas se bañan. They bathe themselves.
Usted se baña. You bathe yourself.
Ustedes se bañan. You all or you both bathe yourselves.
So, the Reflexive Verbs always take the pronoun me, te, se, nos, os, se in front, in all the tenses (past, present or future):
Yo me baño. I bathe myself.
Yo me bañé. I bathed myself.
Yo me bañaré. I will bathe myself.
Now, listen carefully: you will hear many people saying that “all the Spanish verbs with me, te, se, nos, os, se are reflexive verbs”. This is wrong. There are other verbs which are non reflexive and take these pronouns. For instance:
Yo me olvidé. I forgot. I cannot say myself here. It doesn’t work, because this is not a reflexive verb.
I made a video and wrote a blog explaining more:
VIDEO Reflexive Verbs:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30k6Zm21_wk
BLOG Reflexive Verbs:
https://spanishforlondon.com/2025/01/01/17-reflexive-verbs/
Tip
Let’s clarify a tongue-twister. All the students mix the map with these four words: mejor, peor, mayor, menor.
Mejor means better, and el mejor / la mejor means the best.
Peor means worse, and el peor / la peor means the worst.
As Maya said in the episode:
Y no importa si soy mejor o peor.
And it doesn’t matter if I’m better or worse at it.
Mayor means bigger or older, and el mayor / la mayor means the biggest or the eldest.
Menor means smaller or younger, and el menor / la menor means the smallest or the youngest.
El mayor peligro no es apuntar demasiado alto y fallar, sino apuntar demasiado bajo y acertar.
The biggest danger is not aiming too high and missing, but aiming too low and hitting.
And be careful, because “the mayor of London” is “el alcalde de Londres”. Do you remember Episode 27 about false cognates? Here you have another one.
Find all the episodes here:
https://spanishforlondon.com/2025/08/29/contents-gcse-spanish/
Contact me at laura@spanishforlondon.com.
We post two new episodes every week — keep up with Constance and Imran’s story!
