Reflexive and pronominal verbs
Reflexive, reciprocal, lexical, passive, impersonal, and body-part patterns.
Pronominal does not always mean literally reflexive
A pronominal verb carries a clitic agreeing with the subject. Sometimes the subject acts on itself; often the clitic is simply part of the verb’s lexical meaning, as in adonar-se de “realize” or anar-se’n “leave”.
Present of rentar-se
| Person | Clitic + verb |
|---|---|
| jo | em rento |
| tu | et rentes |
| ell/ella/vostè | es renta |
| nosaltres | ens rentem |
| vosaltres | us renteu |
| ells/elles/vostès | es renten |
Before a vowel, em/et/es apostrophize: m’aixeco, t’asseus, s’adorm. In compound and periphrastic pasts the clitic precedes the auxiliary: m’he llevat; se’n va anar.
Four important uses
| Use | Example | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| literal reflexive | Es pentina. | She combs her own hair. |
| reciprocal | S’estimen. | They love each other. |
| lexical pronominal | Se’n va a casa. | He/she leaves for home. |
| passive/impersonal es | Es parla català. | Catalan is spoken / People speak Catalan. |
In es tracta de, the expression means “it is about / it is a matter of”. In es diu, context can mean “is called” or impersonal “people say”. In es pot entrar, es creates an impersonal permission: “you/one can enter”.
Body parts take the definite article
When the owner is obvious from the reflexive clitic, use el/la/els/les: Em rento les dents; s’ha trencat el braç; ens posem l’abric. A possessive is possible only when contrast or clarification matters.
Examples in context
Em llevo a dos quarts de set cada dia.
I get up at 6:30 every day.
Abans de sortir, em rento les dents.
Before going out, I brush my teeth.
La Jana i el Pol es truquen cada vespre.
Jana and Pol call each other every evening.
No me’n vaig encara; espero la Marta.
I’m not leaving yet; I’m waiting for Marta.
Com es diu aquest carrer?
What is this street called?
Es tracta d’un problema fàcil de resoldre.
It is a problem that is easy to solve.
Des d’aquí es pot veure el mar.
From here you can see the sea.
Ens vam adonar de l’error massa tard.
We realized the mistake too late.
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