referirse

Referirse is a Spanish pronominal verb meaning to refer to or to mention something, and to relate something to a topic or context. It is used with the preposition a to indicate what is being referred to (referirse a alguien, referirse a un tema). The construction often appears in both written and spoken Spanish, including formal and academic registers.

Usage and meanings

- To refer to or mention: La noticia se refiere al accidente. The report refers to the accident.

- To pertain to or concern a topic: El párrafo se refiere a la legislación vigente.

- To indicate reference or source: El texto se refiere a estos datos.

Conjugation and forms

Referirse is a pronominal, stem-changing verb. In present indicative it typically appears as: me refiero, te refieres, se refiere, nos referimos, os referís, se refieren. In the preterite, se refirió and se refirieron occur in the third person, with other forms like me referí, te referiste, nos referimos. In the imperfect: me refería, te referías, se refería, nos referíamos, os referíais, se referían. The subjunctive and imperative forms align with the verb referir but include the reflexive pronoun: que me refiera, que te refieras, refiérete (tú), refiérase (usted).

Notes

- The common preposition is a: referirse a algo o alguien.

- In many contexts, the reflexive form is obligatory, even when the meaning is not literally reflexive (it functions as a passive or impersonal construction).

See also

- References and alusión

- Mencionar, hacer referencia a

Referirse is widely used to indicate what a statement or text is about, making it a fundamental verb for discussing content, topics, and sources in Spanish.