What is a reflexive word

In grammar, a reflexive verb is, loosely, a verb whose direct object is the same as its subject; for example, “I wash myself”. More generally, a reflexive verb has the same semantic agent and patient (typically represented syntactically by the subject and the direct object).

What is the example of emphatic?

The definition of emphatic is something that is said or done with strong emotion or action. An example of emphatic is the response of children when asked if they want ice cream.

How do you identify a reflexive pronoun?

Reflexive pronouns, like “myself” or “herself,” show when the object of a sentence is also the subject of a sentence. Examples include “I saw myself in the mirror” or “We bought ourselves a snack at the farmer’s market.” .

What is reflexive pronoun give 10 examples?

Reflexive pronouns are words like myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves and themselves. They refer back to a person or thing. We often use reflexive pronouns when the subject and the object of a verb are the same. I cut myself when I was making dinner last night.

What are the 6 Reflexive pronouns in Spanish?

The reflexive pronouns are: me, te, se, nos, os, se.

Who are reflexive pronouns?

The nine English reflexive pronouns are myself, yourself, himself, herself, oneself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, and themselves. Grammatical terms might seem complicated and a bit arbitrary when you first hear them, but they really aren’t, once you get to know them. The term reflexive is a good example.

How can you tell the difference between intensive and reflexive pronouns?

While they resemble one another, they play different roles in sentences. For example: The pronoun himself can be either a reflexive or an intensive pronoun, depending on how it is used. A reflexive pronoun reflects back on the subject of the sentence while an intensive pronoun adds emphasis or intensity to a noun.

How do you know if its reflexive or intensive?

You can tell the difference between a reflexive pronoun and an intensive pronoun easily: intensive pronouns aren’t essential to a sentence’s basic meaning, whereas reflexive pronouns are. If the sentence no longer makes sense when the pronoun is removed, it’s a reflexive pronoun.

What is an intensive in grammar?

In general linguistics, an intensive pronoun (or self-intensifier) is a form that adds emphasis to a statement; for example, “I did it myself.” While English intensive pronouns (e.g., myself, yourself, himself, herself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves) use the same form as reflexive pronouns, an intensive pronoun is …

Is myself a reflexive pronoun?

A reflexive pronoun is a specific type of pronoun that is used for the object of a verb when it refers to the same noun as the subject of that verb. In English, these are the pronouns that end with “self” or “selves”: e.g., “himself,” “myself,” “ourselves,” etc.

Which sentence uses an intensive pronoun correctly?

“I myself would never quit the team in the middle of a season.” uses an intensive pronoun correctly. Without “myself” the essential meaning of the sentence doesn’t change, which makes myself an intensive pronoun, as it adds emphasis to the sentence.

Reflexive verbs are a unique category of verbs. That’s because reflexive verbs in English aren’t their own unique word, nor do they have a special conjugation pattern. Instead, you must depend on other words within a sentence in order to identify a reflexive verb. So, what is a reflexive verb exactly? Let’s look at some examples and a definition of a reflexive verb.

Quick Tip: Need help editing a paper or writing assignment? Try out this helpful paper checker!

What is a Reflexive Verb?

There are two things to look for to tell: A) what is a reflexive verb and B) to determine whether a sentence includes a reflexive verb. 

First, the sentence will contain a transitive verb. Transitives literally transfer the action towards the object of the sentence. These transitives generally require a direct or indirect object to receive the action. Look at how this happens in the example below to determine the first requirement of standard reflexive verbs English use:

• Josh taught his brother English.

This sentence has three parts. The first part grammatically in English statements is always the subject. In this statement, Josh is the subject. He’s the main topic within this sentence and is the performer of the action or state of being.

Next, you have taught, which is the transitive verb in this sentence. It’s the past tense of the infinitive form, to teach. This transitive form must have a direct object; it cannot stand alone in a sentence. Transitive verbs are the first requirement for a reflexive verb to exist in a given sentence. The second requirement for reflexive verbs in standard reflexive verbs English use will be discussed later in this guide.

After that are the words his brother, which is the indirect object that the action is going towards or who or what the action is for. Typically in standard reflexive verbs English use, you can have an indirect object along with a direct object. An indirect object can be changed by adding the preposition to or for, and making a prepositional phrase instead of an indirect object. If you changed this sentence around, you could say:

• John taught English to his brother. 

And finally, you have the word English, the direct object in this sentence that actually receives the transitive verb’s action. With this direct object, the sentence would be complete if you wrote it like this:

• John taught English. 

The reader of your sentence or listener of your speech could have just asked what John taught. Or they could need more information for context. This is where you would add indirect objects, like his brother; or prepositional phrases, like to his brother. Both are seen in the previous examples.

What you’re focusing on in this sentence is the action taught. As to teach requires an object, it’s an example of a transitive.

If a verb does not require an object, it is not transitive. If there is no transitive, then there are no reflexive verbs English uses in that sentence. This is, as mentioned before, the first and most important requirement in a sentence that contains a reflexive verb. Reflexive verbs can also contain transitives in the to-be form, and not just as action words. These will typically be followed by other prepositions besides to and for, like you saw in the sentence above John taught English to her brother. They can also be followed by adjectives, and even Look at these examples below:

• John was excited about attending college.
• Sharon and Amy are happy with their new home.
• We were careful about how much money we spent to stay within budget.

Did you notice something? These sentences all have verbs that are followed by adjectives. As a result, these sentences do not have direct objects. Look at them again without their prepositional phrases.

• John was excited.
• Sharon and Amy are happy.
• We were careful.

While the prepositional phrases here give important information and context, they are not direct objects. To-be forms are considered intransitive linking verbs, and could not be included in sentences with reflexive verbs.

Most action verbs can be either transitive or intransitive. The important thing is that a transitive sentence will always have a direct object.

Look at an example of this short sentence with an action verb without a direct object, and not requiring a direct object.

• Mary agreed.

No direct object is necessary to form a complete sentence, making agreed an intransitive word, and therefore, not included in standard reflexive verbs usage. Words that are only intransitive cannot be in a reflexive verb sentence. Remember, a transitive sentence will always have a direct object, allowing it to meet the first requirement of being a reflexive verb in standard reflexive verbs English use.

The second thing you’re looking for while identifying whether a sentence contains reflexive verbs is a pronoun. However, not just any pronoun will do. Instead, you’re looking for a reflexive pronoun. This is the second requirement in determining what is a reflexive verb in standard reflexive verbs English use.

All personal pronouns have a reflexive form. Each one ends in the singular suffix -self or plural suffix -selves. This form explains that the person who completes an action receives the action. Determining what is a reflexive verb means it will typically be followed with a reflexive pronoun in standard reflexive verbs English use. Here are the pronouns to look for:

Subject Pronoun	Reflexive Pronouns
I	Myself
You	Yourself/Yourselves
She	Herself
He	Himself
It	Itself
We	Ourselves
They	Themselves
One	Oneself

Before you continue, find more info about pronoun forms.

What is a Reflexive Verb? How is a Reflexive Verb related to Reflexive Pronouns?

Now you understand the two things to look for to identify reflexive verbs in standard reflexive verbs English use. A reflexive verb can be any action word, if the word is transitive, and it’s next to a reflexive pronoun. Reflexive pronouns are connected to subjective pronouns. The action actually reflects back to the subject through the suffix of self to show the performer of the action is also the receiver of the action. The pronoun that you select depends on who the subject is that’s performing a certain action. 

Here are some examples of how sentences change depending on the person or thing taking an action:

• I am introducing myself to the class.
• You are introducing yourself to the class.
• Miguel is introducing himself to the class.
• He is introducing himself to the class.
• Donna is introducing herself to the class.
• She is introducing herself to the class.
• The puppy is introducing itself to the class.
• It is introducing itself to the class.
• We are introducing ourselves to the class.
• They are introducing themselves to the class.

These are the most common pronouns you’ll find in the English language. However, you won’t normally hear one and oneself very often or find it much in written English. It’s primarily for academic settings.

• One is introducing oneself to the class.

Sounds a bit funny right? You can use one and oneself to discuss people in general, and to talk about them in third person. 

In all the above examples, the action is to introduce. Because it’s a transitive word next to a pronoun, it reflects usual reflexive verbs usage in a sentence. But what about when the word introduce doesn’t follow a reflexive pronoun, like in the sentence Jake introduces his dog to the class? Well, in that case, this sentence doesn’t meet the requirements to answer yes to the what is a reflexive verb question.

There are many action words you can use with reflexive pronouns. Some verbs even take on slightly different meanings when the subject and receiver of the action are the same. Let’s look at some commonly used action words in reflexive sentences:

• Ted accidentally cut himself on a piece of paper.

You can use most action words like in the example above that describe harm like cut, injure, and hurt reflexively. Most of the time, injuring yourself isn’t intentional. 

• Sandy and Billy taught themselves how to design websites.

Most of the time, learning a new skill happens when someone else teaches you something. However, self-learning is also possible. Hence, you can teach yourself, like Sandy and Bill did in the above sentence.

• She prepared herself with her favorite belongings for the field trip to the museum.

In normal use, to prepare means to get ready. When you prepare yourself, it can also mean that you outfit yourself or equip yourself with the things you need. You can also ready yourself, train yourself, and make yourself up, which all have to do with getting prepared for something.

• He stopped himself from eating another slice of chocolate cake.

This sentence suggests that the man wants another slice of cake, but that he chose not to indulge. There are many action word phrases with similar meaning to stopping oneself. For instance:

• I blocked myself from Facebook because if I don’t, I’ll procrastinate.
• They controlled themselves from getting upset after they lost the basketball game.

The above examples are some of the more common verbs followed by reflexive pronouns, and therefore count in determining what is a reflexive verb. Here’s an example that takes on a different meaning when the subject and the object are the same person:

• She applied herself to her work.

In the non-reflexive use, apply could mean to make an application, or to put in an application for a job, and could be written simply as she: She applied. 

Typically, if it was for a job, she’d state that in the sentence: She applied for a job. This would indicate applied is an intransitive verb, and doesn’t need a direct object. 

However, most action words can be both transitive and intransitive, and when written as the example above, that this is technically NOT a reflexive verb despite using a reflexive pronoun. In the example sentence, she applied herself means that the woman gave her full attention to the job she was doing. In addition to having the meaning change, there are times where you don’t need to include a pronoun. This is usually the case when the action implies that the subject and the object are the same.

Instead of saying, I get myself up at seven in the morning, it’s more common to say, I get up at seven in the morning. You’ll also hear, I get dressed instead of I get myself dressed. These sentences are still reflexive, and have simply evolved in speech to cut off what is seen as unnecessary. In writing, to be clear, include the reflexive pronoun in the sentence.

Identifying a reflexive verb is tricky, but hopefully this guide helped. Now that you’re done learning about reflexive verbs and their requirements, and the standard reflexive verbs English use in English grammar, why not study more styles of citing work for your next English paper? Check out these resources on MLA format and APA format.

In grammar, a reflexive verb is, loosely, a verb whose direct object is the same as its subject, for example, «I wash myself». More generally, a reflexive verb has the same semantic agent and patient (typically represented syntactically by the subject and the direct object). For example, the English verb to perjure is reflexive, since one can only perjure oneself. In a wider sense, the term refers to any verb form whose grammatical object is a reflexive pronoun, regardless of semantics; such verbs are also more broadly referred to as pronominal verbs, especially in the grammar of the Romance languages. Other kinds of pronominal verbs are reciprocal (they killed each other), passive (it is told), subjective, and idiomatic. The presence of the reflexive pronoun changes the meaning of a verb, e.g., Spanish abonar to pay, abonarse to subscribe.^[1]

There are languages that have explicit morphology or syntax to transform a verb into a reflexive form. In many languages, reflexive constructions are rendered by transitive verbs followed by a reflexive pronoun, as in English -self (e.g., «She threw herself to the floor.») English employs reflexive derivation in idiosyncratically, as in «self-destruct».

Indo-European languages[edit]

Romance and Slavic languages make extensive use of reflexive verbs and reflexive forms.

In the Romance languages, there are nonemphatic clitic reflexive pronouns and emphatic ones. In Spanish, for example, the particle se encliticizes to the verb’s infinitive, gerund, and imperative (lavarse «to wash oneself»), while in Romanian, the particle procliticizes to the verb (a se spăla «to wash oneself»). Full reflexive pronouns or pronominal phrases are added for emphasis or disambiguation: Me cuido a mí mismo «I take care of myself» (mismo combines with the prepositional form of the pronoun mí to form an intensive reflexive pronoun).

The enclitic reflexive pronoun sa/se/si/się is used in Western and South Slavic languages, while Eastern Slavic languages use the suffix —sja (-ся). There is also the non-clitic emphatic pronoun sebja/себя, used to emphasize the reflexive nature of the act; it is applicable only to «true» reflexive verbs, where the agent performs a (transitive) action on itself.

The Slavic languages use the same reflexive pronoun for all persons and numbers, while the Romance and North Germanic ones have a special third person pronoun that cliticizes and the other Germanic ones do as well without cliticizing. This is illustrated in the following table for the word «to recall» (e.g., Je me souviens means «I recall», Tu te souviens means «You recall», and so on).

	French	Danish	Serbo-Croatian
1st person	Singular	Je me souviens	Jeg lægger mig	Ja se sjećam
Plural	Nous nous souvenons	Vi lægger os	Mi se sjećamo
2nd person	Singular	Tu te souviens	Du lægger dig	Ti se sjećaš
Plural	Vous vous souvenez	I lægger jer	Vi se sjećate
3rd person	Singular	Il se souvient	Han lægger sig	On se sjeća
Plural	Ils se souviennent	De lægger sig	Oni se sjećaju

In all of these language groups, reflexive forms often present an obstacle for foreign learners^[2][3] (notably native speakers of English, where the feature is practically absent) due to the variety of uses. Even in languages which contain the feature, it is not always applicable to the same verbs and uses (although a common subset can be generally extracted, as outlined below). For example, the Spanish reflexive construct «se hundió el barco» («the boat sank») has no reflexive equivalent in some Slavic languages (which use an intransitive equivalent of sink), though for example Czech and Slovak do use a reflexive verb: «loď se potopila»/»loď sa potopila».
Reflexive verbs can have a variety of uses and meanings, which often escape consistent classification. Some language-common identified uses are outlined below.^[4] For example, Davies et al.^[2] identify 12 uses for Spanish reflexive constructions, while Vinogradov^[5] divides Russian reflexive verbs into as many as 16 groups.

Martin Haspelmath also has a useful distinction between the reflexive types mentioned below, which he calls introverted reflexives, and so-called extroverted reflexives, which are used for verbs that are usually not reflexive, like hate oneself, love oneself, hear oneself, and kill oneself. Some Indo-European languages have a different reflexive morpheme for extroverted reflexives. For example:

• See how the Russian ненавидеть себя (nenavidet’ sebja) «to hate oneself», which uses a reflexive pronoun, compares to мыться (myt’-sja) «to wash (oneself)», which uses a reflexive suffix (Russian can also say мыть себя (myt’ sebja), with a reflexive pronoun, but only when the pronoun needs to be stressed for emphasis or contrast).
• Or Dutch «zij haat zichzelf» «she hates herself», versus «zij wast zich» «she washes (herself)».
• The distinction exists similarly in English, where introverted reflexive verbs usually have no reflexive pronoun, unlike extroverted.^[6]
• In ancient Greek, the introverted reflexive was expressed using the middle voice rather than a pronoun. Similarly, in modern Greek, it is expressed using the middle usage of the mediopassive voice. On the other hand, the extroverted reflexive was a true reflexive in ancient Greek and modern Greek.
• Similarly, Claire Moyse-Faurie distinguishes between middle and reflexive in Oceanic languages in her on-line articles about reflexives in Oceanic languages. ^[7].

Properly reflexive[edit]

The «true» (literal) reflexive denotes that the agent is simultaneously the patient. The verb is typically transitive and can be used in non-reflexive meaning as well.

Language	Examples	Compare
French	Pierre se lave (Verb: se laver)	Pierre lave le chat
Spanish	Pedro se lava (Verb: lavarse).	Pedro lava el gato.
Italian	Pietro si lava.	Pietro lava il gatto.
Catalan	En Pere es renta.	En Pere renta el gat.
Galician	Pedro lávase.	Pedro lava o gato.
Serbo-Croatian	Petar se kupa.	Petar kupa mačku.
Slovene	Peter se umiva.	Peter umiva mačko.
Polish	Piotr się kąpie.	Piotr kąpie kota.
Russian	Пётр моется. Pyotr moyetsya.	Пётр моет котa. Pyotr moyet kota.
German	Peter wäscht sich.	Peter wäscht die Katze.
Danish	Peter vasker sig.	Peter vasker katten.
Swedish	Peter tvättar sig.	Peter tvättar katten.
Lithuanian	Petras prausiasi.	Petras prausia katę.
Petras prausia save.
English	Peter washes himself.	Peter washes the cat.

Reciprocal[edit]

«Reciprocal» reflexive denotes that the agents perform the mutual actions among themselves, as in English constructions using «each other». In most cases, the transitive verbs are also used.

Language	Examples	Compare
French	Marie et Pierre s’embrassent	Marie embrasse Pierre
Spanish	María y Pedro se besan (Infinitive: besarse).	María besa a Pedro.
Italian	Maria e Pietro si baciano.	Maria bacia Pietro.
Catalan	La Maria i en Pere es fan un petó.	La Maria fa un petó a en Pere.
Galician	María e Pedro bícanse.	María bica a Pedro.
Serbo-Croatian	Marija i Petar se ljube.	Marija ljubi Petra.
Slovene	Marija in Petar se poljubita.	Marija poljubi Petra.
Polish	Maria i Piotr się całują.	Maria całuje Piotra.
Russian	Мария и Пётр целуются. Mariya i Pyotr tseluyutsya.	Мария целуeт Петрa. Mariya tseluyet Petra.
Danish	Maria og Peter kysser hinanden.	Maria kysser Peter.
German	Maria und Peter küssen sich (/ küssen einander).	Maria küsst Peter.
Lithuanian	Marija ir Petras bučiuojasi.	Marija bučiuoja Petrą.
English	Мary and Peter kiss [each other].	Mary kisses Peter.

In modern Scandinavian languages, the passive (or more properly mediopassive) voice is used for medial, especially reciprocal, constructions. Some examples from Danish are:

Maria og Peter skændes; «Mary and Peter are bickering», lit. «Mary and Peter are scolded by each other.»

Maria og Peter blev forlovet; «Mary and Peter got engaged [to each other].»

(The hypothetical form **kysses (kiss each other) is not often—if ever—seen in Danish; however, it will likely be understood by most native speakers, indicating that the mediopassive voice is still at the very least potentially productive in Danish. An expression like «de kysses uafladeligt» (they kiss each other all the time) could very well be used for humorous purposes.)

Autocausative[edit]

«Autocausative» reflexive denotes that the (usually animate) «referent represented by the subject combines the activity of actor and undergoes a change of state as a patient»:^[8]

Language	Examples
Spanish	Pedro se ofendió.
French	Pierre s’est vexé.
Italian	Pietro si offese.
Catalan	En Pere es va ofendre.
Galician	Pedro ofendeuse.
Serbo-Croatian	Petar se uvrijedio.
Slovene	Peter se je užalil.
Polish	Piotr się obraził.
Russian	Пётр обиделся. Pyotr obidelsya.
German	Peter ärgerte sich.
Lithuanian	Petras įsižeidė.
English	Peter became/was offended.

Anticausative[edit]

«Anticausative» reflexive denotes that the (usually inanimate) subject of the verb undergoes an action or change of state whose agent is unclear or nonexistent.^[8]

Language	Examples
Spanish	La puerta se abrió.
French	La porte s’est ouverte.
Italian	La porta si aprì.
Catalan	La porta es va obrir.
Galician	A porta abriuse.
Serbo-Croatian	Vrata su se otvorila.
Slovene	Vrata so se odprla.
Polish	Drzwi się otworzyły.
Russian	Дверь открылась. Dver’ otkrylas’.
German	Die Tür öffnete sich.
Lithuanian	Durys atsidarė.
English	The door opened.

Intransitive or impersonal[edit]

«Intransitive» forms (also known as «impersonal reflexive» or «mediopassive») are obtained by attaching the reflexive pronoun to intransitive verbs. The grammatical subject is either omitted (in pro-drop languages) or is a dummy pronoun (otherwise). Thus, those verbs are defective, as they have only the 3rd person singular (masculine or neuter, depending on language) form.

In Slavic languages, practically «the only condition is that they can be construed as having a human agent. The applied human agent can be generic, or loosely specified collective or individual.»^[9]

Language	Examples
Spanish	Aquí se trabaja bien.	Se dice que…
Italian	Qui si lavora bene.	Si dice che…
French	Ça se vend bien.	Il se murmure que…
Catalan	Aquí es treballa bé.	Hom/Es diu que…
Galician	Aquí trabállase ben.	Dise que…
Serbo-Croatian	Tu se radi dobro.	Smatra se da…
Slovene	Tu se dobro dela.	Razume se, da…
Polish	Tu pracuje się dobrze.	Uważa się, że…
Russian	Здесь хорошо работается. Zdes’ khorosho rabotayetsya.	Думается, что… Dumayetsya, chto…
Lithuanian	Čia gerai darbuojasi.	Sakosi…
German	Es arbeitet sich hier gut.	Man sagt sich, dass…
English	[People] work well here.	It is considered that…

In many cases, there is a semantic overlap between impersonal/anticausative/autocausative constructs and the passive voice (also present in all Romance and Slavic languages).^[9] On one hand, impersonal reflexive constructs have a wider scope of application, as they are not limited to transitive verbs like the canonical passive voice. On the other hand, those constructs can have slight semantic difference or markedness.

Inherent[edit]

«Inherent» or «pronominal» (inherently or essentially) reflexive verbs lack the corresponding non-reflexive from which they can be synchronically derived.^[8] In other words, se is an inherent part of an unergative reflexive or reciprocal verb with no meaning of its own, and an obligatory part of the verb’s lexical entry»:^[10]

Language	Examples
Spanish	Pedro se arrepintió.	Pedro se ríe[N 1]	María y Pedro se separaron.[N 1]	Pedro se queja.
French	Pierre s’est repenti.	Pierre se marre (informal).	Marie et Pierre se sont séparés.	Pierre se lamente.
Italian	Pietro si pentì.	[N 2]	Maria e Pietro si separarono.[N 1]	Pietro si lamenta.[N 3]
Catalan	En Pere es va penedir.	[N 2]	La Maria i en Pere es van separar.[N 1]	En Pere es lamenta.
Galician	Pedro arrepentiuse.			Pedro laméntase.
Serbo-Croatian	Petar se pokajao.	Petar se smije.	Marija i Petar su se rastali.	Petar se žali.[N 3]
Slovene	Peter se kesa.	Peter se smeji.	Marija in Petar sta se razšla.	Peter se pritožuje.[N 3]
Polish	Piotr się pokajał.	Piotr się śmieje.	Maria i Piotr się rozstali.	Piotr żali się.[N 3]
Russian	Пётр раскаялся. Pyotr raskayalsya.	Пётр cмеётся. Pyotr smeyotsya.	Мария и Пётр расстались. Mariya i Pyotr rasstalis’.	Пётр жалуeтся.[N 3] Pyotr zhaluyetsya.
Lithuanian	Petras atsiprašė.	Petras juokiasi.	Marija ir Petras išsiskyrė.[N 1]	Petras skundžiasi.[N 1]
English	Peter repented.	Peter laughs.	Mary and Peter parted.	Peter complains.

Hebrew[edit]

In Hebrew reflexive verbs are in binyan הִתְפַּעֵל. A clause whose predicate is a reflexive verb may never have an object but may have other modifiers. e.g.

• האיש התפטר מעבודתו — the man resigned from his job.
• האיש התמכר לסמים — the man got addicted to drugs.
• האיש התקלח בבוקר — the man ‘showered himself’, i.e., took/had a shower in the morning.
• האישה הסתפרה אצל אבי — the woman took a haircut/had her hair done at Avi’s.

Inuktitut[edit]

A reflexive verb is a verb which must have both an object and a subject, but where, in some context, both the object and the subject are identical. In Inuktitut, this situation is expressed by using a specific verb but by affixing a non-specific ending to it.

Specific:		Non-specific:		Reflexive:
ᓇᓄᖅ Nanuq ᖁᑭᖅᑕᕋ qukiqtara I just shot the polar bear		ᓇᓄᕐᒥᒃ Nanurmik ᖁᑭᖅᓯᔪᖓ qukiqsijunga I just shot a polar bear		ᖁᑭᖅᑐᖓ Qukiqtunga I just shot myself

Australian languages[edit]

Guugu Yimithirr[edit]

In Guugu Yimithirr (a member of the Pama-Nyungan language family) reflexivity can combine with past (PST), nonpast (NPST), and imperative (IMP) tense marking to form the verbal suffixes: /-dhi/ (REFL+PST), /-yi/ (REFL+NPST) and /-ya/ (REFL+IMP) respectively. See the following example where the verb waarmbal, a transitive verb meaning ‘send back’ is detransitivized to mean ‘return’ taking only one nominal argument with an agentive role:

The same valence-reduction process occurs for the transitive wagil ‘cut’

In each of these cases, the reflexively inflected verb now forms a new stem to which additional morphology may be affixed, for example waarmba-adhi ‘returned’ may become waarmba-adhi-lmugu (return-REFL+PST-NEG) ‘didn’t return.’ As with many Pama–Nyungan languages, however, verbs in the lexicon belong to conjugation classes, and a verbs class may restrict the ease with which it can be reflexive.

These reflexive morphemes are largely employed for expressing reciprocity as well; however, in cases where there is potential ambiguity between a reflexive and a reciprocal interpretation, Guugu Yimithirr has an additional means for emphasizing the reflexive (i.e., by the agent upon the agent) interpretation: namely, the /-gu/ suffix upon the grammatical subject. See for example the following contrast between the reciprocal and reflexive:

Reciprocal[edit]

Reflexive[edit]

Gumbaynggir[edit]

Another Pama–Nyungan language, Gumbaynggir has a verbal suffix /-iri/ to mark reciprocity and de-transitive transitive verbs e.g.

Kuuk Thaayorre^[13][edit]

As with Guugu Yimithirr, Kuuk Thaayorre, a Paman language, has some ambiguity between reflexive and reciprocal morphemes and constructions. Ostensibly, there are two suffixes /-e/ and /-rr/ for reflexivity and reciprocity respectively; however, in practice it is less clear cut. Take for example the presence of the reciprocal suffix in what should seem like a simple reflexive example.

Or the reverse wherein an apparent reciprocal assertion has reflexive morphology:

In actuality, the broader function of the reciprocal verb is to emphasize the agentively of the grammatical subject(s), sometimes to directly counteract expectations of an external agent—as in the first example above. The combination of the reciprocal verb with the reflexive pronoun highlights the notion that the subject acted highly agentively (as in a mutual/symmetric reciprocal event) but was also the undergoer of their own action (as in a reflexive event where agentively is backgrounded e.g. «I soiled myself»).

Conversely, the reflexive verb can have precisely this function of backgrounding the agentively of the subject and bringing the focus to the effect that was wrought upon the undergoer(s) as in the second example above.

Uralic languages[edit]

Hungarian language[edit]

«The door opened» is expressed in Hungarian as «Az ajtó kinyílt«, from the verb kinyílik, while the passive voice is rare and archaic. There are numerous verb pairs where one element is active and the other expresses middle voice, something happening apparently on its own, rendered in English like «to become, get, grow, turn» (something). See also the grammatical voice of Hungarian verbs and the Wiktionary entries of -ul/-ül, -ódik/-ődik and -odik/-edik/-ödik, three suffix groups that form such verbs.

See also[edit]

• Deponent verb
• Passive voice
• Reciprocal (grammar)
• Reciprocal pronoun
• Reflexive pronoun

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• R. M. W. Dixon & A. Y. Aikhenvald (eds). «Changing valency: Case studies in transitivity» (PDF). Research Centre for Linguistic Typology, La Trobe University, Melbourne.

1. What is a reflexive verb?

A verb is reflexive when the verb’s subject is the same as its direct object. Let’s take a minute to understand what this means:

A sentence’s subject is the person or thing who performs the verb’s action. The direct object receives the action. This means the action is done to the direct object.

When a verb is reflexive, the direct object and the subject are the same. This means that someone or something performs an action on himself, herself, or itself.

Example 1:

I am teaching myself to speak Spanish.

• In this sentence, the verb is “teaching.”
• The subject is “I,” because “I” am the one doing the teaching.
• The direct object is “myself,” because “myself” is the one being taught.
• “I” and “myself” are the same person, so the subject and direct object are the same.
• This means that the verb (teaching) is reflexive in this sentence.

Example 2:

Be careful with those scissors. Don’t cut yourself!

• In this example, we’re looking at the verb “cut.”
• The subject of this sentence is “you.” When a command doesn’t mention the subject, we understand that the implied subject is “you.” For example, this sentence could read, “You don’t cut yourself,” but the “you” is not necessary.
• The direct object is “yourself,” because “yourself” is the one who could be cut with the scissors.
• “You” and “yourself” are the same person, so the subject and direct object are the same.
• This means that the verb (cut) is reflexive in this sentence.

2. Reflexive Verb Examples

Example 1

Jon introduced himself to the new student.

• In this sentence, the verb is “introduced.”
• “Jon” is the subject of this sentence. He performs the action (introducing).
• “Himself” is the direct object of this sentence, because “himself” receives the action (being introduced).
• “Jon” and “himself” are the same person, so the subject and direct object are the same. Jon is the one who introduces someone, and he’s also the person being introduced.
• In this sentence, “introduced” is a reflexive verb.

Example 2

Mom and Dad taught themselves to speak Spanish.

• In this example, the verb is “taught.”
• The subject is “Mom and Dad,” because they performed the action of teaching.
• The direct object is “themselves.” “Themselves” receive the action of being taught.
• “Themselves” is a reflexive pronoun that refers to Mom and Dad. Since “Mom and Dad” and “themselves” are the same people, the subject and direct object are the same. Mom and Dad are the ones teaching and the ones being taught.
• In this sentence, “taught” is a reflexive verb.

Example 3

She hurt herself when she fell down the steps.

• The verb in this sentence is “hurt.”
• The subject is “she.” “She” is the one performing the action of hurting someone.
• The direct object is “herself,” because “herself” is the one who gets hurt.
• Since “she” and “herself” refer to the same person, the subject and direct object are the same. She both performs and receives the action of hurting.
• In this example, “hurt” is a reflexive verb.

3. Identifying Reflexive Verbs

One easy way to identify reflexive verbs is by recognizing reflexive pronouns. When you see a reflexive pronoun, you know that the verb is also reflexive. In the two examples above, the reflexive pronouns are “myself” (first person singular) and “yourself” (second person singular). Here’s a chart of reflexive pronouns.

If you see one of these pronouns in a sentence, the verb is reflexive. However, sentences with reflexive verbs don’t always include reflexive pronouns. If the verb describes an action that people usually do for themselves, a reflexive pronoun isn’t necessary.

Examples:

• Bobby bathed.
• Sarah dressed quickly because she was late for work.

In both of these sentences, we can assume that the verbs (“bathed” and “dressed”) are reflexive. Bobby and Sarah are the subjects of the sentences because they perform the actions (bathing and dressing). We assume that they are also the direct objects because people usually bathe themselves and dress themselves.

For this reason, it isn’t necessary to include reflexive pronouns by saying, “Bobby bathed himself,” or, “Sarah dressed herself.”

Remember that a verb is reflexive when its subject and direct object are the same. The person or object performing the action also receives the action.