Languages › Spanish Spanish Verb Cepillarse Conjugation Cepillarse Conjugation, Usage and Examples Share Flipboard Email Print El papá le cepilla el pelo a la niña. (The dad brushes the girl's hair). MoMo Productions / Getty Images Spanish Grammar History & Culture Pronunciation Vocabulary Writing Skills By Jocelly Meiners Jocelly Meiners Professor of Hispanic Linguistics Ph.D., Hispanic Linguistics, University of Texas at Austin M.A., French Linguistics, University of Texas at Austin B.A., French and Astronomy, University of Texas at Austin Dr. Jocelly Meiners has taught language courses at the University of Texas at Austin since 2008. She holds a Ph.D. in Hispanic linguistics and an M.A. in French linguistics. Learn about our Editorial Process Updated on January 29, 2019 The Spanish verb cepillar means to brush. It is a regular -ar verb like caminar and desayunar. However, this verb can also be used in its reflexive form cepillarse, which implies that the action returns to the subject of the verb. You will often hear the verb used reflexively, thus the tables below show the conjugations for the reflexive form cepillarse, including the reflexive pronouns (me, te, se, nos, os, se). The conjugation tables include the present, past and future indicative, the present and past subjunctive, the imperative, and other verb forms. How to Use the Verbs Cepillar and Cepillarse When cepillar is used non-reflexively, it is simply a transitive verb that means to brush something. For example, El hombre cepilla sus zapatos para limpiarlos (The man brushes his shoes to clean them). Also, it can be used to talk about brushing someone else's hair or teeth. In that case, you need to use the indirect object pronouns, which indicate who receives the action. For example, La mamá le cepilla los dientes a su hijo (The mom brushes her son's teeth). When used reflexively, cepillarse is most often used to talk about brushing one's hair or teeth. For example, Ella se cepilla el pelo antes de acostarse (She brushes her hair before going to bed) or El niño se cepilla los dientes por la mañana (The boy brushes his teeth in the morning). However, there are two other verbs that are also used for the same contexts. Peinarse is used to talk about combing one's hair, and lavarse is commonly used to talk about washing one's teeth. Cepillarse Present Indicative Yo me cepillo I brush Yo me cepillo los dientes tres veces al día. Tú te cepillas You brush Tú te cepillas el pelo con cuidado. Usted/él/ella se cepilla You/he/she brushes Ella se cepilla el cabello. Nosotros nos cepillamos We brush Nosotros nos cepillamos la barba. Vosotros os cepilláis You brush Vosotros os cepilláis los dientes después de comer. Ustedes/ellos/ellas se cepillan You/they brush Ellos se cepillan el pelo por la noche. Cepillarse Preterite Indicative Yo me cepillé I brushed Yo me cepillé los dientes tres veces al día. Tú te cepillaste You brushed Tú te cepillaste el pelo con cuidado. Usted/él/ella se cepilló You/he/she brushed Ella se cepilló el cabello. Nosotros nos cepillamos We brushed Nosotros nos cepillamos la barba. Vosotros os cepillasteis You brushed Vosotros os cepillasteis los dientes después de comer. Ustedes/ellos/ellas se cepillaron You/they brushed Ellos se cepillaron el pelo por la noche. Cepillarse Imperfect Indicative The imperfect tense can be translated as "used to brush" or "was brushing." It is used to talk about ongoing or habitual actions in the past. Yo me cepillaba I was brushing Yo me cepillaba los dientes tres veces al día. Tú te cepillabas You were brushing Tú te cepillabas el pelo con cuidado. Usted/él/ella se cepillaba You/he/she was brushing Ella se cepillaba el cabello. Nosotros nos cepillábamos We were brushing Nosotros nos cepillábamos la barba. Vosotros os cepillabais You were brushing Vosotros os cepillabais los dientes después de comer. Ustedes/ellos/ellas se cepillaban You/they were brushing Ellos se cepillaban el pelo por la noche. Cepillarse Future Indicative Yo me cepillaré I will brush Yo me cepillaré los dientes tres veces al día. Tú te cepillarás You will brush Tú te cepillarás el pelo con cuidado. Usted/él/ella se cepillará You/he/she will brush Ella se cepillará el cabello. Nosotros nos cepillaremos We will brush Nosotros nos cepillaremos la barba. Vosotros os cepillaréis You will brush Vosotros os cepillaréis los dientes después de comer. Ustedes/ellos/ellas se cepillarán You/they will brush Ellos se cepillarán el pelo por la noche. Cepillarse Periphrastic Future Indicative The periphrastic future is formed with the verb ir (to go) conjugated in the present indicative tense, plus the preposition a, and the infinitive of the verb. With reflexive verbs remember to put the reflexive pronoun before the conjugated verb ir. Yo me voy a cepillar I am going to brush Yo me voy a cepillar los dientes tres veces al día. Tú te vas a cepillar You are going to brush Tú te vas a cepillar el pelo con cuidado. Usted/él/ella se va a cepillar You/he/she is going to brush Ella se va a cepillar el cabello. Nosotros nos vamos a cepillar We are going to brush Nosotros nos vamos a cepillar la barba. Vosotros os vais a cepillar You are going to brush Vosotros os vais a cepillar los dientes después de comer. Ustedes/ellos/ellas se van a cepillar You/they are going to brush Ellos se van a cepillar el pelo por la noche. Cepillarse Conditional Indicative The conditional tense is used for talking about possibilities or probabilities. In English it is translated as "would brush." Yo me cepillaría I would brush Yo me cepillaría los dientes tres veces al día. Tú te cepillarías You would brush Tú te cepillarías el pelo con cuidado. Usted/él/ella se cepillaría You/he/she would brush Ella se cepillaría el cabello. Nosotros nos cepillaríamos We would brush Nosotros nos cepillaríamos la barba. Vosotros os cepillaríais You would brush Vosotros os cepillaríais los dientes después de comer. Ustedes/ellos/ellas se cepillarían You/they would brush Ellos se cepillarían el pelo por la noche. Cepillarse Present Progressive/Gerund Form The present participe or gerund for -ar verbs is formed by adding the ending -ando. You can use the present participle to form progressive verb forms like the present progressive. Present Progressive of Cepillarse se está cepillando She is brushing Ella se está cepillando el cabello. Cepillarse Past Participle The past participle for -ar verbs is formed by adding the ending -ado. You can use the past participle to form compound tenses like the present perfect. Present Perfect of Cepillarse se ha cepillado She has brushed Ella se ha cepillado el cabello Cepillarse Present Subjunctive The subjunctive mood is used in subordinate clauses for situations that describe doubts, desires, emotions, or situations that are pending or subjective. Que yo me cepille That I brush El dentista recomienda que yo me cepille los dientes tres veces al día. Que tú te cepilles That you brush La estilista espera que tú te cepilles el pelo con cuidado. Que usted/él/ella se cepille That you/he/she brush Mamá quiere que ella se cepille el cabello. Que nosotros nos cepillemos That we brush Federico recomienda que nosotros nos cepillemos la barba. Que vosotros os cepilléis That you brush Lucas espera que vosotros os cepilléis los dientes después de comer. Que ustedes/ellos/ellas se cepillen That you/they brush Leo recomienda que ellos se cepillen el pelo por la noche. Cepillarse Imperfect Subjunctive The imperfect subjunctive can be conjugated in two different ways. Below you can find the two conjugations, which are both considered correct. Option 1 Que yo me cepillara That I brushed El dentista recomendaba que yo me cepillara los dientes tres veces al día. Que tú te cepillaras That you brushed La estilista esperaba que tú te cepillaras el pelo con cuidado. Que usted/él/ella se cepillara That you/he/she brushed Mamá quería que ella se cepillara el cabello. Que nosotros nos cepilláramos That we brushed Federico recomendaba que nosotros nos cepilláramos la barba. Que vosotros os cepillarais That you brushed Lucas esperaba que vosotros os cepillarais los dientes después de comer. Que ustedes/ellos/ellas se cepillaran That you/they brushed Leo recomendaba que ellos se cepillaran el pelo por la noche. Option 2 Que yo me cepillase That I brushed El dentista recomendaba que yo me cepillase los dientes tres veces al día. Que tú te cepillases That you brushed La estilista esperaba que tú te cepillases el pelo con cuidado. Que usted/él/ella se cepillase That you/he/she brushed Mamá quería que ella se cepillase el cabello. Que nosotros nos cepillásemos That we brushed Federico recomendaba que nosotros nos cepillásemos la barba. Que vosotros os cepillaseis That you brushed Lucas esperaba que vosotros os cepillaseis los dientes después de comer. Que ustedes/ellos/ellas se cepillasen That you/they brushed Leo recomendaba que ellos se cepillasen el pelo por la noche. Cepillarse Imperative In order to give orders or commands, you need the imperative mood. You can use positive or negative commands, which differ in the tú and vosotros conjugations. Notice that the placement of the reflexive pronoun is also different in the positive and negative commands. Positive Commands Tú cepíllate Brush! ¡Cepíllate el pelo con cuidado! Usted cepíllese Brush! ¡Cepíllese el cabello! Nosotros cepillémonos Let's brush! ¡Cepillémonos la barba! Vosotros cepillaos Brush! ¡Cepillaos los dientes después de comer! Ustedes cepíllense Brush! ¡Cepíllense el pelo por la noche! Negative Commands Tú no te cepilles Don't brush! ¡No te cepilles el pelo con cuidado! Usted no se cepille Don't brush! ¡No se cepille el cabello! Nosotros no nos cepillemos Let's not brush! ¡No nos cepillemos la barba! Vosotros no os cepilléis Don't brush! ¡No os cepilléis los dientes después de comer! Ustedes no se cepillen Don't brush! ¡No se cepillen el pelo por la noche! Cite this Article Format mla apa chicago Your Citation Meiners, Jocelly. "Spanish Verb Cepillarse Conjugation." ThoughtCo, Aug. 28, 2020, thoughtco.com/cepillarse-conjugation-in-spanish-4177005. Meiners, Jocelly. (2020, August 28). Spanish Verb Cepillarse Conjugation. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/cepillarse-conjugation-in-spanish-4177005 Meiners, Jocelly. "Spanish Verb Cepillarse Conjugation." 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