Mirarse Examples, Sentences and Quiz
Mirarse means “to look at oneself”, and it is one of the verbs you will use every day in Spanish. Mirarse means to look at yourself, and it is used for checking your reflection in a mirror, looking at your own hands or looking at each other. It is reflexive because the looking falls back on you, and it is fully regular. This page shows mirarse in real sentences, in short dialogues, and in the mistakes learners make most often, and it finishes with a ten-question quiz so you can test yourself. Every sentence below comes with its English translation, and every form is the correct present-tense form unless the sentence is clearly marked as past or future. For a first taste: “Yo me miro en el espejo antes de salir.” — I look at myself in the mirror before going out.
Mirarse in real example sentences
The twelve sentences below are grouped by how mirarse is used. Read each one out loud, then read the translation. If a sentence feels useful, copy it into your own notebook with one small change — a different time, a different person, a different place — and you have a new sentence of your own.
In the present: everyday use
These sentences use mirarse in the present tense, which is how you will meet it most often: routines, facts, and things happening now.
“Me miro en el espejo antes de salir.” — I look at myself in the mirror before going out.
“¿Tú te miras las manos después del jardín?” — Do you look at yourself my hands after working in the garden?
“Se mira en el espejo del baño.” — He/she looks at himself in the bathroom mirror.
“Nos miramos a los ojos con cariño.” — We look at ourselves into each other's eyes with love.
Talking about the past
The present is not the only tense you need. These sentences show mirarse in the past, so you can talk about what already happened.
“Ayer, yo me miré en el espejo antes de salir.” — Yesterday, I looked at myself in the mirror before going out. (preterite)
“Él se miraba las manos después del jardín todos los días.” — He used to look at himself my hands after working in the garden every day. (imperfect)
Plans and things already done
These sentences look forward, or look back at something already finished. Notice how the verb form changes while the meaning of mirarse stays the same.
“Nosotros nos miraremos en el espejo del baño mañana.” — We will look at ourselves in the bathroom mirror tomorrow. (future)
“¿Te has mirado a los ojos con cariño?” — Have you looked at yourself into each other's eyes with love? (present perfect)
More everyday uses
Four more present-tense sentences, covering the remaining persons, so you can see the whole table in action.
“Os miráis en el espejo antes de salir.” — You look at yourselves in the mirror before going out.
“Se miran las manos después del jardín.” — They look at themselves my hands after working in the garden.
“Me miro en el espejo del baño.” — I look at myself in the bathroom mirror.
“Se mira a los ojos con cariño.” — He/she looks at himself into each other's eyes with love.
Mirarse in context
Single sentences teach you the forms. Dialogues teach you when to use them. Read the short conversation below, then the paragraph that follows, and notice how mirarse appears naturally, without anyone stopping to think about conjugation.
A short dialogue
Lucía: “¿Tú te miras en el espejo antes de salir?” — Do you look at yourself in the mirror before going out?
Carlos: “Sí, yo me miro en el espejo antes de salir.” — Yes, I look at myself in the mirror before going out.
Lucía: “Nosotros nos miramos las manos después del jardín.” — We look at ourselves my hands after working in the garden.
Carlos: “Y ellos se miran en el espejo del baño.” — And they look at themselves in the bathroom mirror.
Lucía: “Vosotros os miráis a los ojos con cariño.” — You look at yourselves into each other's eyes with love.
Carlos: “Sí, y él se mira las manos después del jardín.” — Yes, and he looks at himself my hands after working in the garden.
A short paragraph
Lucía se mira en el espejo antes de salir, y Carlos se mira las manos después del jardín. Nosotros nos miramos en el espejo del baño, y ellos se miran a los ojos con cariño. Yo me miro en el espejo del baño, y mi padre se mira a los ojos con cariño. Mirarse is part of everyday life, because to look at oneself is something Spanish speakers do again and again, in every tense and every situation.
Common mistakes with mirarse
These are the errors learners actually make with mirarse. Each one shows the wrong version, the right version, and why the correction matters.
Wrong: “Yo miro en el espejo antes de salir.” Right: “Yo me miro en el espejo antes de salir.” Why: Mirarse is reflexive, so the pronoun me is required: without it the verb means something else, or nothing at all.
Wrong: “Ayer yo miro las manos después del jardín.” Right: “Ayer yo miré las manos después del jardín.” Why: The present and the preterite are different tenses: miro is happening now, while miré is a finished action in the past. Use the preterite with ayer.
Wrong: “Treating mirarse and verse as identical in every context.” Right: “Mirarse means to look at oneself, while verse means to see oneself.” Why: They overlap, but each has uses the other does not: mirarse fits sentences such as Me miro en el espejo antes de salir, while verse belongs in a different sentence. Check the meaning you want before choosing.
Wrong: “Yo soy mirado las manos después del jardín.” Right: “Yo he mirado las manos después del jardín.” Why: Spanish perfect tenses use haber, not ser: he mirado, has mirado, ha mirado. Ser plus the participle makes a passive, not a perfect tense.
Wrong: “De niño, yo miré en el espejo del baño todos los días.” Right: “De niño, yo miraba en el espejo del baño todos los días.” Why: For a repeated habit in the past, use the imperfect (miraba), not the preterite. The preterite (miré) is for one finished action.
Quiz: mirarse in use
Ten questions on mirarse in real sentences. Choose the correct answer for each one, then check the answer key. Every answer is explained.
1. Complete the sentence: “Vosotros ______ en el espejo antes de salir.” (In the mirror before going out.)
- (a) os miráis
- (b) me miro
- (c) te miras
Answer: os miráis — The vosotros/as form of mirarse in the present is os miráis.
2. Complete the sentence: “Ellos ______ las manos después del jardín.” (My hands after working in the garden.)
- (a) me miro
- (b) te miras
- (c) se miran
Answer: se miran — The ellos/ellas/Uds. form of mirarse in the present is se miran.
3. Complete the sentence: “Yo ______ en el espejo antes de salir.” (In the mirror before going out.)
- (a) se miró
- (b) me miré
- (c) te miraste
Answer: me miré — The yo form of mirarse in the preterite is me miré.
4. Complete the sentence: “Él ______ las manos después del jardín.” (My hands after working in the garden.)
- (a) se miraba
- (b) me miraba
- (c) te mirabas
Answer: se miraba — The él/ella/Ud. form of mirarse in the imperfect is se miraba.
5. Complete the sentence: “Nosotros ______ en el espejo del baño.” (In the bathroom mirror.)
- (a) me miraré
- (b) te mirarás
- (c) nos miraremos
Answer: nos miraremos — The nosotros/as form of mirarse in the future is nos miraremos.
6. What does mirarse mean in English?
- (a) to dry oneself
- (b) to look at oneself
- (c) to see oneself
Answer: to look at oneself — Mirarse means “to look at oneself”. The other options are the meanings of different verbs.
7. Which sentence is correct?
- (a) Yo me miro en el espejo antes de salir.
- (b) Ellos mira en el espejo antes de salir.
- (c) Yo me miro las manos después del jardín ayer.
Answer: Yo me miro en el espejo antes de salir. — “Yo me miro en el espejo antes de salir.” is correct. The other two sentences contain the mistakes explained in the section above.
8. How do you say “I look at myself in the mirror before going out.” in Spanish?
- (a) Yo se miran en el espejo antes de salir.
- (b) Yo me miré en el espejo antes de salir.
- (c) Yo me miro en el espejo antes de salir.
Answer: Yo me miro en el espejo antes de salir. — “Yo me miro en el espejo antes de salir.” is the correct translation. The second option uses the wrong person's form, and the third uses the preterite.
9. What is the nosotros form of mirarse in the present tense?
- (a) te miras
- (b) nos miramos
- (c) me miro
Answer: nos miramos — The nosotros form is nos miramos.
10. Which of these sentences is in the present tense?
- (a) Ayer, yo me miré en el espejo antes de salir.
- (b) Nosotros nos miraremos en el espejo antes de salir mañana.
- (c) Yo me miro en el espejo antes de salir.
Answer: Yo me miro en el espejo antes de salir. — “Yo me miro en el espejo antes de salir.” is in the present tense. The other two are in the preterite and the future.
Frequently asked questions
How do you say 'I look at oneself' in Spanish?
Say 'Yo me miro en el espejo antes de salir'. The complement follows directly, as in the examples above. For a routine, add a time expression: 'Yo me miro en el espejo antes de salir todos los días'.
How do you say 'I look at oneself' in the past?
For one finished action, say 'Ayer, yo me miré las manos después del jardín'. For a repeated habit, say 'Yo me miraba las manos después del jardín todos los días'. For something already done, say 'Yo me he mirado las manos después del jardín'.
What is the difference between mirarse and verse?
Mirarse means to look at oneself, while verse means to see oneself. They are easy to confuse because they appear in similar situations, but they are not interchangeable: use mirarse when you mean to look at oneself, as in Me miro en el espejo antes de salir.
Related pages
- Full conjugation of mirarse — every tense of mirarse in one place.
- Mirarse in the present tense — the full table and usage rules for one tense.
- Spanish verbs — the hub for every Spanish verb on VerbFlow.
- Verb quiz — test yourself on mirarse and other verbs.
- Conjugation practice — drill the forms of mirarse until they are automatic.