These tend not to cause comprehension difficulty, as all are the same as subject pronouns, with two exceptions, the meanings of which are deducible:
| Es para mí. | It’s for me (myself). |
| Es para ti. | It’s for you (yourself). (fam. s.) |
Note above the two possible translations. Spanish also employs prepositional reflexive pronouns, all of which correspond to the English “-self” or “-selves.” The prepositional reflexive pronouns have a different third person pronoun.
| mí | myself |
| ti | yourself (fam.) |
| sí | himself, herself, yourself (form.), itself |
| nosotros/-as | ourselves |
| vosotros/-as | yourselves (fam.pl.) |
| sí | themselves, yourselves (form. [fam.pl. in L.A.]) |
Note the multiple meanings of sí, which are determined by the subject to which the pronoun refers.
| Esto en sí no es difícil. | This in itself is not difficult. |
| Guillermina lo repite para sí. | Guillermina repeats it to herself. |
Sí may be followed by a form of mismo for emphasis or clarification.
| Lo hacen por sí mismas. | They’re doing it for (by) themselves. (fem.) |
| Lo repetí para mí mismo. | I repeated it to myself. |
The necessity for the prepositional reflexive pronoun object (sí) as well as the simple prepositional pronoun object (él, ella, etc.) can be seen in the following contrast:
| Eloísa lo compró para ella. | Eloísa bought it for her. |
| Eloísa lo compró para sí (misma). | Eloísa bought it for herself. |
In the first example, Eloísa bought something for another person. Without the existence of sí, Spanish would not be able to express that “She bought it for herself.” Similarly:
| Rolando lo trajo para él. | Rolando brought it for him. |
| Rolando lo trajo para sí (mismo). | Rolando brought it for himself. |
When combined with preposition con, mí, ti and sí become conmigo, contigo (as previously seen) and consigo. The third persons singular and plural (all expressed by consigo) take on a reflexive meaning:
| Gerardo está enojado consigo. | Gerardo is angry with himself. |
| Siempre llevan al perro consigo. | They always take the dog along with them (themselves). |
Vocabulario básico
Verbos:
despedir (i)- to dismiss, to fire; despedirse de- to say good-bye to, to take leave of
disfrutar (de)- to enjoy
enfadarse- to get angry
enojarse- to get angry
gastar – to spend (money); to waste (time)
gozar (de)- to enjoy
ingresar- to join
reírse (i) (de)- to laugh (at)
romper(se)- to break
sangrar- to bleed
sonreír (i)- to smile
Sustantivos:
la barba- beard
el bigote- moustache
el cerebro- brain
el corazón- heart
el cuello- neck (cognate: collar)
la edad- age
la enfermedad- illness (cognate: infirmity)
el/la jefe/-a- boss, chief
la muela- tooth, molar
la muñeca- doll; wrist
el pecho- chest
el pulmón- lung (cognate: pulmonary)
la sangre- blood (cognate: sanguine)
el ser humano- human being
Adjetivo:
capaz*- capable
Preposiciones con objetos (Prepositions with Object):
conmigo- with me
contigo- with you (fam. s.)
consigo- with him (himself), with her (herself), with you (yourself) (form. s., form. pl. [fam. pl. in L.A.])
Expresiones:
a despecho de- in spite of
a pesar de- in spite of
en balde- in vain
hacerse daño – to hurt oneself
pese a- in spite of (lit.)
*The –az ending corresponds to word ending in English “-acious.” (The word “capacious” exists, with a slightly different meaning, in English.) Therefore, audaz = audacious, locuaz = loquacious, etc. Likewise, the suffix -oz corresponds to English “-ocious,” giving atroz = atrocious, precoz = precocious, etc.