Learn Spanish (Spain): Mi padre se acuesta temprano.

The verb for 'to go to bed' is acostarse, which is a reflexive verb. In Spanish, this literally means 'to put oneself to bed' or 'to lay oneself down'. Because the subject is Mi padre (he), we use the third-person reflexive pronoun se.

Does the se always go before the verb?

When the verb is conjugated to match a person (like acuesta here), the reflexive pronoun must go immediately before it. If the verb were left in its dictionary form, the pronoun would be attached to the very end as a single word, like in acostarse.

Wait, if the dictionary form is acostarse, why does it change to acuesta? Where did the 'ue' come from?

Acostarse is a stem-changing verb. When you conjugate it, the o in the middle changes to ue for most people (except for 'we' and 'you all'). So, 'he goes to bed' becomes se acuesta.

How would I say 'I go to bed early' using this pattern?

You would say Me acuesto temprano. You change the reflexive pronoun to me (myself), and the verb ending to -o for 'I'. The ue vowel change still happens because 'I' is one of the forms that uses it.