motivarse
verbCEFR B1
What does “motivarse” mean in English?
to motivate oneself, to get motivated
to motivate oneself, to get motivated (reflexive; learner's own internal motivation process)
Example sentences
Cuando estudias un idioma por tu cuenta, puede resultar muy difícil motivarse, sobre todo en las etapas intermedias cuando el progreso es menos visible.
When you study a language on your own, it can be very hard to motivate yourself, especially at the intermediate stages when progress is less visible.
Para motivarse cuando los contenidos se vuelven difíciles, muchos estudiantes se fijan metas pequeñas y celebran cada logro, por mínimo que sea.
To stay motivated when content becomes difficult, many students set themselves small goals and celebrate every achievement, however small it may be.
Le cuesta mucho motivarse para repasar los temas que ya conoce, pero sabe que el repaso es esencial para no olvidar lo que aprendió meses atrás.
He finds it very hard to motivate himself to revise topics he already knows, but he is aware that revision is essential so as not to forget what he learned months ago.
How to use it
Motivarse is the pronominal (reflexive) form of motivar and means 'to motivate oneself' or 'to get motivated'. It describes the learner's own internal process of generating motivation, particularly in contexts where external motivation (from a teacher or environment) is reduced — such as online courses, self-study, or distance learning. The reflexive pronoun agrees with the subject: me motivo, te motivas, se motiva, etc. It commonly appears in the infinitive after verbs like costar, ser difícil, and encontrar/buscar maneras de.
Common mistake
The reflexive pronoun is obligatory: 'es difícil motivarse', never '*es difícil motivar' when the subject is doing it to themselves. Note the contrast with motivar (transitive): 'el profesor me motiva' (the teacher motivates me) vs 'me cuesta motivarme' (I find it hard to motivate myself). In everyday speech, 'tener ganas' or 'estar con ganas' can also express motivation — these are more colloquial alternatives.