A reflexive verb is just an ordinary verb that drags a little pronoun along with it — and in the present tense, that pronoun sits right in front of the conjugated verb. Mă spăl, te speli, se spală: the verb form (spăl, speli, spală) is exactly what you already learned for the four conjugation classes, and the reflexive clitic (mă, te, se) is the only new piece. The whole skill of conjugating a reflexive in the present reduces to one rule: conjugate the verb normally, then put the matching clitic in front, and make the clitic agree with the subject. That last clause is where almost every English speaker stumbles — so this page drills it.
The accusative clitic series
Most everyday reflexives use the accusative clitics. You already know them as the direct-object pronouns ("me, you, him…"); what makes them reflexive is that they point back at the subject.
| Subject | Clitic | Verb (a se spăla) | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| eu | mă | mă spăl | I wash (myself) |
| tu | te | te speli | you wash |
| el / ea | se | se spală | he / she washes |
| noi | ne | ne spălăm | we wash |
| voi | vă | vă spălați | you (pl.) wash |
| ei / ele | se | se spală | they wash |
Look at the verb column on its own — spăl, speli, spală, spălăm, spălați, spală — and you will see it is a perfectly ordinary Class I (-a) verb. The reflexive nature lives entirely in the clitic. A verb's dictionary entry signals this with a se: a se spăla, a se trezi, a se simți.
Mă spăl pe mâini înainte de masă.
I wash my hands before the meal.
Te speli pe dinți seara sau dimineața?
Do you brush your teeth at night or in the morning?
Copiii se spală singuri acum, ce ușurare.
The children wash themselves on their own now, what a relief.
The one mistake to burn out: freezing se
Here is the single most common reflexive error English speakers make. Because you learn the verb from its dictionary form a *se trezi — with *se attached — your instinct is to keep se in every sentence: eu se trezesc, noi se trezim. Wrong. The clitic must change to match the subject, exactly the way the verb ending changes. Se is the 3rd-person clitic only.
| Subject | Wrong (frozen se) | Correct |
|---|---|---|
| eu | ❌ eu se trezesc | ✅ mă trezesc |
| tu | ❌ tu se trezești | ✅ te trezești |
| noi | ❌ noi se trezim | ✅ ne trezim |
| voi | ❌ voi se treziți | ✅ vă treziți |
Think of the clitic as a second ending — one that lives at the front of the verb instead of the back. Just as you would never say eu trezesc-e with a 3rd-person ending, you should never say eu *se trezesc* with a 3rd-person clitic. The two must agree on person.
Mă trezesc la șase, dar frate-meu se trezește la nouă.
I get up at six, but my brother gets up at nine. (mă for eu, se for el — both right)
Ne trezim devreme când avem cursuri.
We get up early when we have classes. (ne for noi)
The other classic error: dropping the clitic entirely
The opposite failure is leaving the clitic out, because English does not have one. English says "I get up" with no extra pronoun; you may be tempted to say trezesc alone. But for these verbs the clitic is obligatory — trezesc on its own is either wrong or means something different (a trezi without the clitic means "to wake someone else up").
Mă trezesc greu lunea.
I have a hard time waking up on Mondays.
Te trezesc eu la șapte, nu-ți face griji.
I'll wake you up at seven, don't worry. (here te = you, the object — non-reflexive a trezi)
That pair is worth staring at: mă trezesc = "I wake (myself) up," but te trezesc with eu as subject = "I wake you up." The clitic is doing real grammatical work, and dropping it or mismatching it changes who does what to whom.
High-frequency present reflexives
These are the reflexives you will use in your first week of conversation. Notice that several of them — a se duce, a se uita, a se gândi — have no "to oneself" meaning at all; the clitic is simply part of the verb (see accusative reflexives for why).
| Verb | Meaning | mă / eu | se / el | ne / noi |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| a se trezi | to wake up | mă trezesc | se trezește | ne trezim |
| a se duce | to go (everyday) | mă duc | se duce | ne ducem |
| a se simți | to feel | mă simt | se simte | ne simțim |
| a se gândi | to think (about) | mă gândesc | se gândește | ne gândim |
| a se grăbi | to hurry | mă grăbesc | se grăbește | ne grăbim |
| a se odihni | to rest | mă odihnesc | se odihnește | ne odihnim |
Mă duc la piață, vii cu mine?
I'm going to the market, are you coming with me?
Cum te simți azi, mai bine?
How are you feeling today, any better?
Mă gândesc la tine tot timpul.
I think about you all the time.
Dative reflexives: a different clitic, same front position
A smaller set of reflexives uses the dative clitic series — îmi, îți, își, ne, vă, își — instead of the accusative one. The position is identical (right before the verb), but the words differ, and you cannot swap them. A-și aminti (to remember), a-și dori (to wish for), a-și imagina (to imagine) are the common ones. The dictionary flag is a-și rather than a se.
| Subject | Dative clitic | a-și aminti |
|---|---|---|
| eu | îmi | îmi amintesc |
| tu | îți | îți amintești |
| el / ea | își | își amintește |
| noi | ne | ne amintim |
| voi | vă | vă amintiți |
| ei / ele | își | își amintesc |
Îmi amintesc perfect ziua aceea.
I remember that day perfectly.
Îți dorești ceva special de ziua ta?
Do you want anything special for your birthday?
The same freeze-trap applies here, just with a different frozen form: learners who memorize a-*și aminti* tend to say *eu își amintesc. It must be îmi amintesc*. (Full treatment on the dative reflexives page.)
Negation: nu goes in front of the whole unit
To negate a reflexive present, nu slides in front of the clitic-plus-verb block: mă spăl → nu mă spăl. The clitic stays glued to the verb; nu wraps around the pair.
Nu mă trezesc înainte de șapte, orice ar fi.
I don't wake up before seven, no matter what.
Nu vă grăbiți, avem timp destul.
Don't hurry, we have plenty of time.
De ce nu te odihnești puțin?
Why don't you rest a little?
In fast speech nu + a vowel-initial clitic can fuse — nu îmi is often heard and written as nu-mi (nu-mi amintesc) — but the standard nu + clitic + verb order is always safe. See negating the present for the broader pattern.
How this differs from English
English reflexives are rare and optional ("I wash" is fine without "myself"), and English never puts the reflexive pronoun before the verb. Romanian does the opposite on both counts: the clitic is obligatory for these verbs, it sits in front, and it must agree with the subject like a second conjugation ending. So an English speaker has three habits to build at once — include the clitic, position it before the verb, and inflect it for person. The frozen-se error is what happens when only the first two habits are in place but the third is not.
Common Mistakes
❌ Eu se trezesc la șapte.
Incorrect — the clitic must agree with eu; it is mă, not se. Se is 3rd person only.
✅ Mă trezesc la șapte.
I wake up at seven.
❌ Noi se ducem la mare.
Incorrect — for noi the clitic is ne: ne ducem. Don't freeze se across persons.
✅ Ne ducem la mare.
We're going to the seaside.
❌ Simt bine azi.
Incorrect — a se simți is reflexive; without the clitic it isn't 'I feel (well)'. You need mă.
✅ Mă simt bine azi.
I feel well today.
❌ Eu își amintesc de tine.
Incorrect — the 1sg dative clitic is îmi, not the 3rd-person își.
✅ Îmi amintesc de tine.
I remember you.
❌ Mă nu grăbesc.
Incorrect — nu goes in front of the whole clitic+verb unit: nu mă grăbesc.
✅ Nu mă grăbesc.
I'm not in a hurry.
Key Takeaways
- A present reflexive = the normal present
- the matching clitic in front: mă spăl, te speli, se spală, ne spălăm, vă spălați, se spală.
- The clitic must agree with the subject — the #1 error is freezing 3rd-person se everywhere (eu se spăl ✗ → eu mă spăl ✓).
- The other frequent error is dropping the clitic (English has none): the clitic is obligatory for these verbs.
- Dative reflexives use îmi, îți, își, ne, vă, își (flag: a-și) — same front position, different words.
- Nu wraps the whole unit: nu mă trezesc.
Now practice Romanian
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Start learning Romanian→Related Topics
- Accusative Reflexive VerbsA2 — The accusative reflexive clitics mă, te, se, ne, vă, se — true reflexives and the large class of verbs that are reflexive in form only.
- Dative Reflexive VerbsB1 — The dative reflexive clitics îmi, îți, își, ne, vă, își — verbs like a-și aminti and a-și dori that act on one's own mind or in one's own interest.
- Negating the Present: nu + verbA1 — How to negate any present-tense verb with the preverbal particle nu, its spoken contractions, and Romanian's obligatory double negation with nimic, nimeni, and niciodată.
- The Present Indicative: OverviewA1 — An introduction to the Romanian present indicative — the workhorse tense that covers both 'I work' and 'I am working' and even the near future.
- Positioning Reflexive CliticsB1 — Where the reflexive clitic sits across every tense and mood — pre-verbal, fused into the auxiliary, or hyphenated after the verb — and the fusion rules m-am, te-ai, s-a.