Italian Reflexive Verbs Explained – A Simple Guide for Beginners

Italian has a special category of verbs called “reflexive verbs”. As the name suggests, these are verbs whose action turns back on the subject, much like our reflection in a mirror. You can think of a reflexive verb as an action that someone does to themselves.

There are reflexive actions in English, too, such as “washing oneself” or “enjoying oneself”.

Italian reflexive verbs use reflexive pronouns to indicate that the subject is the recipient of the action.

How do they work, and how should we use them in sentences? Find out in this article!

How to identify Italian reflexive verbs

First things first, it’s important to be able to distinguish between normal and reflexive verbs in Italian.

This is very easy to do: Italian reflexive verbs end in -RSI (this is the form you will find in dictionaries). For example:

• alzarsi
  to get up
• rompersi
  to break
• pulirsi
  to clean oneself

The non-reflexive forms of these verbs are alzare, rompere and pulire. To form the reflexive verb from a non-reflexive verb, simply remove the final -e and add -si. This is why reflexive verbs in Italian end in -rsi.

Notice that many verbs that are reflexive in Italian are not necessarily so in English. In English, the verb “to break” is both transitive (“The kid breaks the vase”) and intransitive (“The vase breaks”). In Italian, these are two different verbs: rompere and rompersi. You would use rompere in the first example and rompersi in the second. Like this:

• Il bambino rompe il vaso.
  The kid breaks the vase.
• Il vaso si rompe.
  The vase breaks.

Where does that si come from? Let’s find out in the next section!

How to conjugate Italian reflexive verbs

Italian reflexive verbs are very easy to conjugate. The verb is conjugated as a regular non-reflexive verb, like “rompe” above. All you need to do is use the correct reflexive pronoun.

Do you remember how to conjugate “to wash”, lavare? Let me refresh your memory of the present tense conjugation, and then we can look at how to use the reflexive form, lavarsi.

io	lavo
tu	lavi
lui, lei	lava
noi	laviamo
voi	lavate
loro	lavano

For example:

• Lavo le scale.
  I wash the stairs.
• I ragazzi lavano la macchina.
  The boys wash the car.
• La pioggia lava i vetri del salotto.
  The rain washes the windows in the living room.

You should now have enough information to form the reflexive form of lavare. Remember to remove the final -e and add -si.

And the answer is… lavarsi, of course! With an -rsi ending.

To form the present simple of lavarsi, conjugate the regular verb lavare as you normally would, then add the correct reflexive pronoun, as shown in the following table:

io	mi lavo
tu	ti lavi
lui, lei	si lava
noi	ci laviamo
voi	vi lavate
loro	si lavano

Mi lavo translates to I wash myself.

In Italian, mi, ti, si, ci, vi are reflexive pronouns that have the same function as the English pronouns myself, yourself, himself/herself/itself/themselves, ourselves, yourselves. With enough practice, you will learn to recognize when an Italian verb requires a reflexive form.

Before we look at how negation works, let’s see some more examples of Italian reflexive verbs in the present tense.

• La mamma si veste.
  Mom gets dressed. (vestire – vestirsi)
• Mi alzo alle 8.
  I get up at 8. (alzare – alzarsi)
• I bambini si divertono molto.
  The children are having a lot of fun. (divertire – divertirsi)
• Luca si dimentica di fare i compiti.
  Luca forgets to do his homework. (dimenticare – dimenticarsi)
• Vi fermate a casa nostra per cena?
  Are you staying for dinner at our house? (fermare – fermarsi)
• Ti sbagli, Luca non vive qui.
  You’re wrong, Luca doesn’t live here. (sbagliare – sbagliarsi)
• Come ti chiami?
  What is your name? (chiamare – chiamarsi)

One of the first reflexive verbs you learn when studying Italian as a beginner is actually chiamarsi, meaning “to call oneself”, from chiamare, meaning “to call”. You will certainly remember that the usual reply to Come ti chiami? is Mi chiamo…, which literally means “I call myself…”.

See? You’re well on your way to mastering Italian reflexive verbs without breaking a sweat! 🙂

How to negate an Italian reflexive verb

To negate a reflexive verb, simply add “non” before the reflexive pronoun. Examples:

• La mamma non si veste.
  Mom doesn’t get dressed.
• Non mi alzo mai alle 8.
  I never get up at 8.
• Luca non si dimentica di fare i compiti.
  Luca doesn’t forget to do his homework.
• Non ti sbagli.
  You’re not wrong.

Conjugating Italian reflexive verbs in other tenses

Suppose we want to conjugate a reflexive verb in the passato prossimo tense. Just like in English, this tense uses helper verbs, followed by the past participle of the main verb.

Conjugating reflexive verbs is actually easier because there is only one possible auxiliary verb: essere! For example:

• La mamma si è vestita con il suo abito migliore.
  Mom put on her best dress.
• Mi sono alzato a mezzogiorno.
  I got up at noon.
• Luca si è dimenticato di fare i compiti.
  Luca forgot to do his homework.
• Vi siete fermati a prendere il latte?
  Did you stop to get milk?
• Mio fratello si è arrabbiato tantissimo.
  My brother got really angry. (arrabbiare – arrabbiarsi)
• Ci siamo persi!
  We got lost! (perdere – perdersi)

Examples with other tenses:

• Non mi ero reso conto della pioggia.
  I hadn’t noticed the rain. (rendere – rendersi)
• Quanti giorni ti fermerai in Italia?
  How many days will you be staying in Italy?

Where should the Italian reflexive pronouns be placed?

With modal verbs

Until now, all of our examples have featured regular verbs. In these examples, the reflexive pronoun comes before the verb. But what about when we have a modal verb in Italian followed by another verb in the infinitive mood?

First, let’s review the Italian modal verbs.

• volere (to want)
• potere (can)
• dovere (must, to have to)
• sapere (to know)

Now, where would you put the reflexive pronoun in the sentence “I have to get up at 7”?

We will use dovere as a modal verb and alzarsi as a reflexive verb. There are two options. Read carefully:

• Mi devo alzare alle 7.
  I have to get up at 7.
• Devo alzarmi alle 7.
  I have to get up at 7.

Either follow the usual order for regular verbs, putting the reflexive pronoun first, or remove the final -e from the infinitive verb and add the pronoun at the end of it.

Let me give you a few more examples to help you remember this rule.

• Mi posso sedere qui? / Posso sedermi qui?
  Can I sit here? (sedere – sedersi)
• Ci dobbiamo ricordare di chiamare Paolo. / Dobbiamo ricordarci di chiamare Paolo.
  We must remember to call Paolo. (ricordare – ricordarsi)
• Mi vorrei alzare più tardi al mattino. / Vorrei alzarmi più tardi al mattino.
  I would like to get up later in the morning.

With verbs that need a preposition

Some Italian verbs are followed by a preposition. Examples include iniziare a (to start doing) and decidere di (to decide to). Examples:

• Marco inizia a mangiare.
  Marco starts eating.
• Noi decidiamo di pulire.
  We decide to clean up.

How would you say “Marco starts getting dressed” or “We decide to get up”? How do you use reflexive verbs in these situations?

• Marco inizia a vestirsi.
  Marco starts getting dressed.
• Noi decidiamo di alzarci.
  We decide to get up.

Can you see what happened? First, we conjugate the main verb as normal (inizia, decidiamo). The correct reflexive pronoun is then attached to the end of the infinitive verb (vestire + si becomes vestirsi).

Other examples:

• Spero di sbagliarmi.
  I hope I’m wrong.
• Elena e Marta finiscono di asciugarsi i capelli.
  Elena and Marta finish drying their hair.
• Non siamo riusciti a fermarci in tempo.
  We couldn’t stop in time.

Unlike with modal verbs, in this case, the pronoun must be attached to the infinitive.

Giving orders with the Italian reflexive verbs

When you say “Stop!” or “Eat up!”, you’re using the imperative mood. Italian has this verb form too, even for reflexive verbs.

Conjugating a reflexive verb in the Italian imperative mood is simple: just match the reflexive pronoun to the conjugation of the regular verb. Let’s start with the verb alzare.

io	—
tu	alza la mano!
lui, lei	alzi la mano!
noi	alziamo la mano!
voi	alzate la mano!
loro	alzino la mano!

To form the reflexive verb alzarsi, take the bold verbs and add the reflexive pronouns as shown below:

io	—
tu	alzati!
lui, lei	si alzi!
noi	alziamoci!
voi	alzatevi!
loro	si alzino!

The formal reflexive pronoun si always appears as a separate word that precedes the verb (third person singular and plural), whereas all the other reflexive pronouns are simply attached to the verb. Examples:

• Siediti su quella sedia!
  Sit down on that chair!
• Fermatevi, è un ordine!
  Stop, that’s an order!
• Muoviamoci, o perderemo il treno!
  Let’s hurry, or we’ll miss the train!
• Alzati, Matteo! Sei in ritardo!
  Get up, Matteo! You’re late!

To give the order not to do something, use the following:

io	—
tu	non ti alzare! / non alzarti!
lui, lei	non si alzi!
noi	non alziamoci!
voi	non alzatevi!
loro	non si alzino!

For the informal second person singular tu, the negative is formed with non + the infinitive verb. This gives you two valid options: the pronoun can come before the verb (non ti alzare) or be attached to it (non alzarti). For all other forms, you simply add non before the regular imperative form.

• Signor Rossi, non si dimentichi di venire alla riunione!
  Mr. Rossi, don’t forget to come to the meeting!
• Non arrabbiarti! / Non ti arrabbiare!
  Don’t get angry!
• Non addormentatevi proprio ora!
  Don’t fall asleep just now!

Reciprocal Italian reflexive verbs

When you say “They love each other” in English, you are describing a reciprocal action between two people. In Italian, such verbs are reflexive and end in -rsi. Examples:

• Anna e Luca si abbracciano.
  Anna and Luca hug each other. (abbracciare – abbracciarsi)
• I miei genitori si sono sposati nel 1970.
  My parents got married in 1970. (sposare – sposarsi)
• A che ora ci incontriamo domani sera?
  What time shall we meet tomorrow evening? (incontrare – incontrarsi)
• I due sfidanti si guardano in cagnesco.
  The two challengers glare at each other. (guardare – guardarsi)

Italian reflexive verbs: Conclusion

We have seen that all Italian reflexive verbs are derived from non-reflexive verbs. Although there are some unusual rules, such as those governing the position of reflexive pronouns, learning the most common reflexive verb conjugations in Italian is easier than you might think because these verbs are used very frequently.

So keep practicing and, before you know it, using reflexive pronouns in Italian will become second nature!