Common Mistake Made When Using Reflexive Verbs in Spanish

aburrirse (de) (to get bored) acostarse (to go to mattress) acordarse (to remember) afeitarse (to shave oneself) alegrarse (de) (to be glad) ba&ntildearse (to bathe como blanquear los dientes naturalmente en casa oneself) casarse (con alguien) (to get married, to marry an individual) cepillarse (to brush oneself) convertirse (to turn into) dormirse (to fall asleep) ducharse (to take a shower) despertarse (to wake up) desvestirse (to get undressed) divertirse (to enjoy oneself) disgustarse (de, con) (to turn into upset) enfermarse (to get ill) enojarse (to get mad, upset) lavarse (to clean oneself) levantarse (to get up) llamarse (to be named, to be referred to as) mirarse (to appear at oneself) olvidarse (to forget) peinarse (to comb one's hair) quitarse (la ropa) (to takeoff one's outfits) secarse (to dry one's self) sentarse (to sit down) sentirse (to really feel) vestirse (to get dressed) volverse (to become) I have a story to share with you that will help illustrate my level. A few times, I was in a recording studio recording our podcast classes. And there is a area of every single podcast that we do called "Los Consejos Para No Sonar Como Un Gringo" (Advice Not To Audio Like a Gringo.) And when we have been undertaking "Los Consejos Para No Sonar Como Un Gringo" I thought about an American good friend right here in Medellin, Colombia who often tends to make particular problems when speaking Spanish. And one particular error that he usually tends to make is a error that I contact the "Excessive use of possessive adjectives when referring to human body parts and content articles of clothing".

Let me give you a number of examples of statements that I have heard him say: Incorrect: Me duele mi cabeza. He should have mentioned "Me duele la cabeza." If you want to say "my head hurts" or "I have a headache" in Spanish you only need to say "Me duele la cabeza." "Me duele" practically implies "it hurts me." And there is no require in Spanish to use the phrase "mi cabeza" (my head) instead of "la cabeza" (the head)." It is implied in the phrase "me duele la cabeza" that is my head that hurts me. Definitely it would appear unusual if a person else's head was leading to me a headache. Here's an additional error that I heard him make: Mistaken: Voy a cepillarme mis dientes. He ought to have explained "voy a cepillarme los dientes." "Voy a cepillar" literally indicates "I am likely to brush." And there is no require in Spanish to use the phrase "mis dientes" (my teeth) instead of "los dientes" (the tooth). It is implied in the phrase "voy a cepillarme los dientes" that you are heading to brush your tooth. That's since we typically really don't brush somebody else's enamel. I have one particular far more example. I went to my same American friend's home a number of times ago. I just wanted to tell you about this blunder so that you avoid the mistake of excessively utilizing possessive adjectives when referring to body areas and articles or blog posts of garments when employing reflexive verbs in Spanish.