Breakdown of Mi padre se afeita en la mañana.
en
in / on / at
el padre
the father / the parents
mi
my
la mañana
the morning
Questions & Answers about Mi padre se afeita en la mañana.
Why is there a se before afeita?
Afeitarse (to shave) is a reflexive verb. In Spanish, when someone performs a daily routine action on themselves, you use a reflexive pronoun. Here, se acts like "himself", showing that your father is shaving his own face, not someone else's.
What happens to se afeita if I want to say "I shave"?
You have to change both the pronoun and the verb ending. "I shave" is me afeito. The pronoun becomes me (myself), and the verb afeitar takes the normal "I" ending (-o).
Can I put the se after the verb, like afeita se?
Not in this sentence. When a verb is conjugated (changed to match the subject, like afeita), the reflexive pronoun must go directly before it. You only attach it to the end if the verb is in its unconjugated dictionary form (like afeitarse).