You already know that pronominal verbs use reflexive pronouns (me, te, se, nos, se). While many verbs use these pronouns to show that the subject performs an action on itself, adding a pronoun to certain other verbs changes their meaning entirely.
Changing the focus of an action
Some verbs change their focus to the beginning or end of an action when used pronominally.
For example, dormir means "to sleep," but dormirse means "to fall asleep" (the start of sleeping).
| The patient falls asleep fast with the anesthesia. | El paciente se duerme rápido con la anestesia. |
Similarly, ir means "to go" (to a specific place), but irse means "to leave" or "to go away" (focusing on the departure itself).
| After the operation, the surgeon left. | Después de la operación, el cirujano se fue. |
Creating new meanings
Other verbs change to a completely new meaning when a pronoun is added.
encontrar (to find) becomes encontrarse (to feel / to be located).
| The patient was feeling bad because of the anesthesia. | El paciente se encontraba mal por la anestesia. |
poner (to put) becomes ponerse (to become / to get). It is often used for temporary physical or emotional changes.
| The surgeon gets nervous if the anesthesia does not work. | El cirujano se pone nervioso si la anestesia no funciona. |
llevar (to carry / to transport) becomes llevarse (to take away / to carry off).
| They took away the bed through the hallway toward the operating room. | Ellos se llevaron la cama por el pasillo hacia el quirófano. |