Reflexive Verbs

[YourAverageBoy]

Hi, I've been studying italian and I still get a bit confused by reflexive verbs. After all, they are one of the hardest things for native english speakers to understand. It would be great if you did a grammer lesson or something that helped people with reflexive verbs.

I understand how to use them, but i always forget to use them. It just becomes very confusing when you attempt speaking italian. Also, some have the regulare infinitive form in which you can use either, while others have both forms but the meaning is slightly different. Then, some have both forms but they are completely different. It's just very confusing for me .

[johnnywayfarer]

Hi YourAverageBoy,

I understand your feelings on this issue; normally Italians feel the same when they first deal with phrasal verbs
You probably already studied quite a lot about it, but I’ll give you some tips to make reflexive verbs less problematic than they appear.
Let’s take “diverstirsi” (to have fun, to enjoy). If we translated “Io mi diverto” literally, it’d be “I enjoy myself”, which means something quite private and totally different. Reflexive verbs concern mostly actions where movement is involved and its action befalls on the subject itself.
As for forgetting to use them, I wouldn’t take it as a problem. In fact, the best way to get used to their functioning is to use them!
Don’t be afraid to chat with Italians on Internet, they love to get to know new people. If you want to, check out this free chat line:

http://it.chat.yahoo.com/

Hope it helped!

Johnny