How to Talk About Your Daily Routine in Spanish

Talking about what you do every day is a great way to practice Spanish. However, many actions in a daily routine use a special type of verb called a reflexive verb.

What is a Reflexive Verb?

A reflexive verb is used when the person doing the action is also the person receiving the action. In English, we often use words like “myself” or “yourself.”

For example, when you take a shower, you are washing yourself. When you wake up, you are waking yourself up.

In Spanish, you can spot a reflexive verb in the dictionary because it ends in -se.

• ducharse (to shower oneself)
• despertarse (to wake oneself up)

How to Conjugate Them

To use these verbs, you conjugate the verb normally, but you must also add a reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nos, se) before the conjugated verb.

Let’s look at ducharse (to take a shower / to shower oneself):

• Yo me ducho (I shower myself)
• Tú te duchas (You shower yourself)
• Él/Ella/Usted se ducha (He/She/You-formal showers)
• Nosotros nos duchamos (We shower ourselves)
• Ellos/Ustedes se duchan (They/You-all shower)

Common Daily Routine Verbs

Here are the most common reflexive verbs for a daily routine. Note that some of these have stem changes (like e->ie or o->ue).

1. Despertarse (to wake up)
   • Me despierto a las siete. (I wake up at seven.)
2. Levantarse (to get up)
   • Me levanto enseguida. (I get up immediately.)
3. Ducharse (to shower)
   • Me ducho con agua caliente. (I shower with hot water.)
4. Vestirse (to get dressed)
   • Me visto para el trabajo. (I get dressed for work.)
5. Acostarse (to go to bed)
   • Me acuesto a las once. (I go to bed at eleven.)

Non-Reflexive Routine Verbs

Not everything in your routine is reflexive! If you are doing an action to something else, you just use a normal verb.

• Desayunar (to eat breakfast): Desayuno huevos y pan.
• Trabajar (to work): Trabajo de nueve a cinco.
• Cenar (to eat dinner): Ceno con mi familia.

Practice

Translate these sentences about your morning routine:

1. I wake up at 8:00. (despertarse)
2. I get up. (levantarse)
3. I take a shower. (ducharse)
4. I eat breakfast. (desayunar - careful, not reflexive!)

Answers

1. Me despierto a las ocho.
2. Me levanto.
3. Me ducho.
4. Desayuno.