This is an informative post primarily meant for beginners and Intermediates.
I am sure the mere mention of reflexives brings an awe or a grimace on the faces of some of us. BUT if you all try to internalize the logic behind the reflexives you may start considering it as your best buddy.
Well the reason why most of start shivering while dealing with reflexives is a lack of understanding on the subject.
Most of us have been taught that the reflexive only means that the action is happening or coming back to the subject of the clause,, well no, I disagree... Reflexives is a multi-dimensional concept and has more than one aspect to it All u have to keep in mind is that one thing that is common in all the various dimensions/aspects/uses of reflexives is the idea of personal involvement or personal reference of the subject in one way or the other. The action of the verb may or may not be coming back on the subject of the clause. I will be briefly touching upon one such aspect today SO KEEP READING :
Change of Meaning with reflexives Ever wondered why some verbs change the entire meaning when used reflexively ,,, well that is what we will excogitate here ,,, heed the examples below : 1. The verb OCUPAR means to occupy, however when it goes reflexive the meaning of ocuparse is to attend to ... Now here the action of being attended to is not happening on the subject but what is happening is that we are saying in a way that I am making myself occupied by attending to some one or something which gives the meaning ,, to attend. 2.Enterar : this one means to inform .. but when it goes reflexive the meaning changes to "to find out" ..so what is happening here ,, here the mechanism of reflexive is making the core meaning rotate back on your self meaning to inform your self ,,, and how will you inform your self ,,,, obviously by finding something out which gives the verb its new meaning in the reflexive format.
So when it comes to reflexives ,, it may not always be as simple as dormirme (I am making myself sleep) or acostarme (I am puting myself to bed) etc. In many verbs the logic may be hidden and u might have to close your eyes to decipher the logical derivation of the reflexive meaning .... God Bless and Happy Learning.