Learn Hardcore Russian: Я моюсь утром и улыбаюсь в зеркало. - I wash myself in the morning and smile in the mirror.

моюсь = I wash myself (from мыть – to wash)
улыбаюсь = I smile / I am smiling (myself) (from улыбать, though this base is not used alone in modern Russian)

Reflexive in Russian can mean:

you do something to yourself: мыться – to wash oneself
or the action “stays with you” or is just intransitive: улыбаться – to smile

So, -сь / -ся often corresponds to English “myself / yourself / themselves”, or it just makes the verb intransitive.

What is the difference between я мою and я моюсь?

я мою means “I wash (something)” and needs an object:
- Я мою посуду. – I wash the dishes.
- Я мою пол. – I wash the floor.
я моюсь means “I wash myself / I am washing (myself)”.
The object is me, built into the reflexive ending -сь, so you don’t say себя here.

In your sentence, you’re washing yourself, so я моюсь is correct.

Could I say я мою себя утром instead of я моюсь утром?

Grammatically it’s understandable, but it sounds unnatural.

Native speakers almost always say мыться:
- Я моюсь утром. – natural
- Я мою себя утром. – technically correct, but odd, redundant, and rarely said.

Use мыться (reflexive) for “to wash oneself” in everyday Russian.

What exactly does утром mean, and why that form (ending with -ом)?

Утром means “in the morning”.

Grammatically, it’s the instrumental singular form of утро (morning), but in this form it functions as a time adverbial: in/by the morning → “in the morning”.

This is very common with times of day:

утром – in the morning
днём – in / during the day
вечером – in the evening
ночью – at night

So Я моюсь утром = I wash (myself) in the morning.

Can утром be placed somewhere else in the sentence, like at the beginning?

Yes. Word order in Russian is flexible, especially for time expressions.

All of these are correct, with slightly different emphasis:

Утром я моюсь и улыбаюсь в зеркало.
In the morning, I wash (myself) and smile in the mirror. (emphasis on “in the morning”)
Я утром моюсь и улыбаюсь в зеркало.
Neutral, also common.
Я моюсь утром и улыбаюсь в зеркало.
Also neutral; the one you were given.

The meaning is basically the same in everyday speech.

Why is it в зеркало and not some other case? What does в + зеркало express here?

В зеркало is preposition “в” + accusative case, and it expresses direction / target: into the mirror, at the mirror.

в
- accusative: motion or direction into / toward something
зеркало is neuter; nominative = accusative: зеркало → в зеркало

Here you’re not smiling with the mirror, but rather to / into it, so Russian uses в + accusative.

Literally: улыбаюсь в зеркало ≈ “I smile into the mirror.”

But I learned улыбаться кому-то (dative). Why isn’t it зеркалу in the dative?

You’re right that:

улыбаться кому? – to smile at whom? (dative)
- улыбаться маме, другу, ребёнку – to smile at mom, a friend, a child

In your sentence, the person you’re smiling to is actually you, and it’s just omitted:

Full idea: Я улыбаюсь себе в зеркало.
I smile to myself in the mirror.

So:

себе – dative (to whom? to myself)
в зеркало – direction: where? into what? (the mirror you see yourself in)

You can say:

Я улыбаюсь маме. – dative, no в
Я улыбаюсь себе в зеркало. – dative себе
- “into the mirror”
Я улыбаюсь в зеркало. – dative person is just not mentioned; focus is on the mirror.

What’s the difference between мыться and умываться?

Both are common, but the nuance is:

мыться – to wash (your body), to bathe/shower; more general
- Я моюсь утром. – I wash (myself) in the morning.
- Often implies shower or full washing.
умываться – usually “to wash your face (and hands)”
- Я умываюсь утром. – I wash my face in the morning.
- Associated with the sink and morning / evening face washing.

In everyday speech:

Talking about a shower / bath: use мыться.
Talking about washing your face in the morning: умываться is a bit more specific, but мыться is also possible and understood.

Does я моюсь mean “I wash myself” or “I am washing myself”? How do you show continuous vs simple present?

Я моюсь can mean both:

I wash myself (in general / habitually)
I am washing myself (right now)

Russian does not have a separate present continuous form like I am doing. The simple present covers both meanings. Context usually shows whether it’s habitual or happening now.

So:

Я моюсь утром. – most likely habitual: I (usually) wash myself in the morning.
Тихо, я моюсь. – clearly right now: Be quiet, I’m washing myself.

Which aspect are моюсь and улыбаюсь, and what would the perfective forms look like?

Мо́юсь and улыба́юсь are imperfective present-tense forms.

Typical perfective partners:

мыться (imperfective) → помыться (perfective)
- Я помо́юсь утром. – I will (have a) wash in the morning. (one complete act)
улыбаться (imperfective) → улыбнуться (perfective)
- Я улыбну́сь в зеркало. – I will smile (once) at/into the mirror.

Imperfective: process, repeated/habitual, general.
Perfective: single, complete action, often translated with English “will” in the future.

Can I drop the я and just say Моюсь утром и улыбаюсь в зеркало?

Yes, you can. Russian often omits the subject pronoun when it’s clear from the verb ending.

Я моюсь утром и улыбаюсь в зеркало.
Моюсь утром и улыбаюсь в зеркало.

Both are natural.
The verb endings -юсь show the subject is я (I), so the pronoun is optional unless you want emphasis or contrast.

How do you conjugate мыться and улыбаться in the present tense?

Мыться (to wash oneself):

я мо́юсь
ты мо́ешься
он / она / оно мо́ется
мы мо́емся
вы мо́етесь
они мо́ются

Улыбаться (to smile):

я улыба́юсь
ты улыба́ешься
он / она / оно улыба́ется
мы улыба́емся
вы улыба́етесь
они улыба́ются

Notice:

Singular 1st person: -юсь / -юсь
Singular 2nd person: -ешься
Plural 3rd: -ются / -аются, etc.

Where is the stress in моюсь, улыбаюсь, and зеркало?

мо́юсь – stress on мо́-
улыба́юсь – stress on -ба́- (у-лы-ба́-юсь)
зе́ркало – stress on зе́р- (зе́р-ка-ло)

Correct stress is very important in Russian; moving it can make words hard to recognize.

Is there any difference in meaning between улыбаться в зеркало and улыбаться себе в зеркало?

The core idea is the same, but the focus changes slightly:

улыбаться в зеркало – to smile into the mirror
- Focus on the action and the mirror; you just don’t say explicitly to whom.
улыбаться себе в зеркало – to smile at oneself in the mirror
- Explicitly mentions that you’re smiling to yourself.

In normal conversation, улыбаюсь в зеркало is enough; people understand you’re smiling at your own reflection.