The verb “lavarse” belongs to a group of reflexive verbs in Spanish, which means that the action is performed on the subject itself. In this case, “lavarse” means “to wash oneself”, and the reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nos, os, se) must match the subject of the sentence.
For example:
- “Ella se lava el pelo” (She washes her hair)
- “Nosotros nos lavamos la cara” (We wash our face)
The reflexive pronoun is placed before the conjugated verb, except in the case of the infinitive, gerund, and affirmative commands, where it is attached to the end of the verb.
For example:
- Infinitive: “Quiero lavarme las manos” (I want to wash my hands)
- Gerund: “Estoy lavándome los dientes” (I am brushing my teeth)
- Affirmative command: “¡Lávate las manos!” (Wash your hands!)
It’s also important to note that “lavarse” is a regular -ar verb in Spanish, so it follows the same conjugation pattern as other -ar verbs in the present tense. To form the present tense, you remove the -ar ending and add the appropriate ending based on the subject of the sentence.
For example:
- “Yo me lavo” (I wash myself)
- “Tú te lavas” (You wash yourself)
- “Él/Ella/Usted se lava” (He/She/You washes himself/herself/yourself)
- “Nosotros/Nosotras nos lavamos” (We wash ourselves)
- “Vosotros/Vosotras os laváis” (You all wash yourselves)
- “Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes se lavan” (They/You all wash themselves/yourselves)