What does the -se on the end of a Spanish verb mean?

The -se on infinitives like levantarse, llamarse, lavarse marks the verb as reflexive - the action loops back to the subject. When you conjugate it, the -se separates from the infinitive and becomes one of six pronouns (me, te, se, nos, os, se) matching the subject. So levantarse becomes me levanto (I get up), te levantas (you get up), se levanta (he/she/you-formal gets up). The pronoun moves to before the verb when it's conjugated.

Why is llamarse used to say 'my name is'?

Spanish doesn't have a direct equivalent of 'my name is' - instead it uses llamarse, literally 'to call oneself'. Me llamo Michael means 'I call myself Michael', and that's the standard way to introduce yourself. ¿Cómo te llamas? is literally 'how do you call yourself?' Spanish reaches for reflexives in lots of places English doesn't - especially for daily routine and changes of state - and llamarse is the highest-frequency one you'll meet.

Spanish Reflexive Verbs

A reflexive verb is one whose action loops back to the subject. In English we'd say "I wash myself" with a separate reflexive pronoun. In Spanish, the pronoun is built into the verb and is mandatory whenever the verb is reflexive.

How they look

The reflexive infinitive ends in -se: levantarse, llamarse, lavarse, sentarse, despertarse. When you conjugate, the -se detaches and becomes a pronoun matching the subject, placed before the verb.

Person	Pronoun	Example (levantarse)
yo	me	me levanto
tú	te	te levantas
él / ella / usted	se	se levanta
nosotros	nos	nos levantamos
vosotros	os	os levantáis
ellos / ellas / ustedes	se	se levantan

Foundation tier focuses on the singular forms (me, te, se); the plural forms are flagged for Higher-tier and the intermediate Spanish grammar page.

The core daily-routine reflexives

These are the high-frequency reflexives in the top 500 lemmas. Worth knowing as a set.

Reflexive	English
llamarse	to be called
levantarse	to get up
acostarse	to go to bed
despertarse	to wake up
dormirse	to fall asleep
sentarse	to sit down
lavarse	to wash oneself
ducharse	to shower
vestirse	to get dressed
ponerse	to put on (clothing)
quitarse	to take off (clothing)
irse	to leave, to go away
quedarse	to stay

Many of these are stem-changing or irregular - acostarse (o → ue), despertarse (e → ie), vestirse (e → i), ponerse (irregular). Conjugate the verb stem normally and bolt the reflexive pronoun in front.

Pronoun position

The same rules as for object pronouns:

Before the conjugated verb: me levanto, te llamas, se viste.
Attached to an infinitive: quiero levantarme (I want to get up). Also valid: me quiero levantar.
Attached to a gerund: estoy duchándome (I'm showering). Also valid: me estoy duchando.
Attached to an affirmative command: ¡siéntate! (sit down!), ¡levántate! (get up!).

Note the written accent on duchándome and levántate - attaching the pronoun shifts the stress pattern, so a written accent goes on the original stressed syllable.

Reflexive vs non-reflexive: the meaning shift

Most reflexive verbs have a non-reflexive twin that means something subtly different. The reflexive form usually means the subject is doing the action to themselves; the non-reflexive form means doing it to someone or something else.

Non-reflexive	Reflexive
lavar el coche (wash the car)	lavarse (wash oneself)
levantar la mesa (lift the table)	levantarse (get oneself up)
despertar a los niños (wake the kids up)	despertarse (wake oneself up)
poner el libro (put the book down)	ponerse (put on, become)
sentir el frío (feel the cold)	sentirse (feel - as a state)

The split is consistent: subject-affects-self uses the reflexive; subject-affects-something-else uses the non-reflexive.

Worked examples

Me llamo Michael. (My name is Michael.)
¿A qué hora te levantas? (What time do you get up?)
Se acuesta tarde todos los días. (He goes to bed late every day.)
Quiero ducharme antes de salir. (I want to shower before going out.)
Siéntate, por favor. (Sit down, please.)
No me siento bien. (I don't feel well.)

Common mistakes English speakers make

The biggest one is dropping the reflexive pronoun because English doesn't use it: levanto a las siete instead of me levanto a las siete. The reflexive pronoun is mandatory - the verb is incomplete without it. The second is forgetting that body parts and clothing use the definite article, not the possessive: me lavo las manos (I wash my hands), not "me lavo mis manos". The reflexive pronoun already marks the possession.