41 I VERBI RIFLESSIVI E VOCABOLARIO

I verbi riflessivi

We know that the subject of a verb is the person or thing that is performing the verb’s action. The object of a verb is the person or thing acted upon or affected by that action. Here’s an example in English:

As we see here, the difference between subject and object depends on who or what is performing the action and who or what is affected by the action.

When the subject of a verb is the same as the object of the verb, we have a reflexive verb (un verbo riflessivo). For example:

In Italian, many of our daily routines and acts of personal hygiene are expressed with reflexive verbs. Here are the most common ones:

The English equivalent of asciugarsi is “to dry oneself”, where the person doing the drying (= the subject) is the same person that is being dried (= the object): thus a reflexive action. However, many verbs that require reflexive pronouns in French do not require them in English. We do not need to say “he shaves himself” (si rade), and we never say “they rest themselves” (si riposano).

There are also many reflexive verbs in Italian that are not reflexive at all in English. For example, addormentarsi is reflexive in Italian, but to fall asleep is not reflexive in English. We have already seen this before with the reflexive verb chiamarsi (literally, to call oneself):

Io mi chiamo René. (≈ I call myself René ➔ My name is René).

Lui si chiama Charles. (≈ He calls himself Charles ➔ His name is Charles).

Come si chiama, Lei ? (≈ What do you call yourself? ➔ What is your name?)

For every reflexive verb, the reflexive pronoun (i.e., object) always needs to match the subject in gender, number, and person.

Here are the reflexive pronouns you need to remember along with the conjugation of the reflexive verbs alzarsi and divertirsi:

The reflexive pronoun always goes right before the conjugated verb. Together they form an inseparable “block” (mi alzo, ti alzi, si alza, etc.). When you negate a reflexive verb, you place non in front.

While most of the verbs presented above are always reflexive, many verbs can be used reflexively and non-reflexively. For example:

guardare (to look [at]) => guardarsi (to look at oneself)

lavare (to wash) => lavarsi (to wash oneself)

parlare (to talk) => parlarsi (to talk to oneself.)

Even when the verb is in the infinitive form, it still needs to have the appropriate reflexive pronoun to match the subject.

Verbi riflessivi a senso reciproco

(a) Reciprocal pronominal verbs (or reciprocal reflexives) express a shared or reciprocal action between two or more people or things. In this context, the reflexive pronouns mean “(to) each other” or “(to) one another”.

As usual, context is key. Look at the difference between these two sentences.

• Midori si parla spesso. (Midori talks “to herself” often.)
• Kathy e Michelle si parlano spesso. (Kathy and Michelle talk “to each other” often.)

In (1) the pronoun si means to “herself”. In (2) si means to “each other”.

Here are some common reciprocal verbs:

Tracy e Paul si danno dei regali a Natale. (Tracy and Paul give each other gifts at Christmas.)

I pompieri si aiutano a spegnere l’incendio. (The firefighters help each other put out the fire.)

 Ci ritroviamo spesso al ristorante U. (We meet each other often at the restaurant U.)

Mathieu e Gina decidono di lasciarsi. (Mathieu and Gina decide to leave each other.)

Verbi riflessivi con significato idiomatico

Unlike the verbs we studied above, where the action reflects back on the subject or between two subjects, these reflexive verbs should be learned as idiomatic expressions. This means that there is really no explanation as to why they have a reflexive pronoun, but they do. These reflexive verbs don’t have any obvious reflexive or reciprocal meaning, for example infastidirsi (to be annoyed) or interessarsi (to be interested in). Here’s a good list to start with: