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Spoken Description

Learn how to identify and conjugate reflexive verbs in English. Practice with clear rules and examples to understand when and how to use reflexive pronouns like 'myself', 'yourself', 'themselves'.

Lerne die Verwendung reflexiver Verben im Englischen: Erkenne, wann Reflexivpronomen wie 'myself' und 'themselves' verwendet werden. Mit Beispielen und Übungen kannst du Reflexivverben sicher anwenden.

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Reflexive verbs describe actions that turn back on the subject, and they are useful for talking about daily routines, feelings, and personal care. This guide covers how to use reflexive verbs with se and the matching pronouns in English.

Key Idea

Reflexive verbs show that the subject does something to themselves, and they always use a reflexive pronoun like myself, yourself, himself, herself, ourselves, or themselves.

Which sentences use a reflexive pronoun correctly?

They helped themselves to the buffet

He wrote a letter himself to his friend

She taught herself to play guitar

We prepared ourselves for the trip

Reflexive Pronouns

Reflexive pronouns match the subject and signal that the action returns to the doer, so you say I wash myself, you dress yourself, he shaves himself, she brushes herself, we comb ourselves, and they dry themselves.

English Reflexive Pronouns

	Subject	Reflexive Pronoun
	I	myself
	you (singular)	yourself
	he	himself
	she	herself
	it	itself
	we	ourselves
	you (plural)	yourselves
	they	themselves

Fill in the BlankI wash(myself) after working in the garden.

Conjugate the reflexive pronoun to match the subject.

Common Reflexive Verbs

Common reflexive verbs describe everyday personal actions like washing, dressing, shaving, brushing, combing, and drying, and they keep the reflexive pronoun to show who does the action to whom.

Examples

Fill in the BlankShe brushed(herself) before going out.

Fill in the blank with the correct reflexive pronoun.

Nonreflexive Verbs

Some verbs can be reflexive or not depending on whether the action affects the subject, so I wash can be general and I wash myself is specific, and in English you add the reflexive pronoun to make it clear.

Examples

Which sentence shows a nonreflexive (action on another person) verb use?

They congratulated themselves after the race

I looked at myself in the mirror

I called my friend yesterday

She helped her brother with his homework

Summary

Reflexive verbs highlight actions the subject does to themselves using matching reflexive pronouns, and they are important for describing personal routines and care in English.

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