What a reflexive verb is
When the person DOING the action is also the one RECEIVING it, Portuguese adds a little pronoun: Eu levanto a mala (I lift the suitcase) but Eu me levanto (I get [myself] up). Your daily routine is full of these.
The pronouns
| eu me levanto | I get up |
| você / ele / ela se levanta | you get up / he, she gets up |
| nós nos levantamos | we get up |
| vocês / eles se levantam | you all / they get up |
The reflexives you'll actually use
| se chamar | to be called — Como você se chama? |
| se levantar | to get up — Me levanto às sete. |
| se sentar | to sit down — Pode se sentar! (have a seat!) |
| se deitar | to go to bed — Me deito tarde. |
| se vestir | to get dressed — Ele se veste rápido. |
| se sentir | to feel — Você se sente bem? |
| se lembrar (de) | to remember — Não me lembro do nome. |
| se preocupar (com) | to worry — Não se preocupe! (don't worry!) |
| se divertir | to have fun — A gente se divertiu muito! |
| se casar (com) | to get married — Eles se casaram em maio. |
Exceptions & street reality
1 · Spoken Brazil often drops the pronoun with some verbs: Lembra disso? (remember this?), Levanta! (get up!). You'll hear both — use the pronoun yourself, it's never wrong.
2 · Starting a sentence: formal writing avoids opening with me/se (Eu me levanto, not Me levanto), but spoken Brazilian starts with Me… all the time (Me chamo Ana).
3 · Each other: Eles se amam = they love EACH OTHER — same pronoun, mutual meaning.
Practise this chapter
10 pool questions plus generated ones — 20 fresh practice questions, reshuffled every visit, inside the grammar library.
Practise Reflexive verbs — 20 questions →This chapter is taught in Lição 8 of the course — free, no account needed. Rumo is a complete Brazilian Portuguese course, A1 to B2; level A1 is free.