REFLEXIVE PRONOUNS

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Reflexive pronouns

Forms: myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, oneself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves.

English reflexive pronouns are normally used with reflexive meaning, e.g.:

John hurt himself.

(John se hizo daño.)They looked at themselves in the mirror.

(Se miraron al espejo.)

They are also used for emphasis, e.g.:

A: Did Mary's sister paint the room? (¿La hermana de Mary pintó la habitación?) B: No, Mary painted it herself (or Mary herself painted it.) (No, lo hizo la propia Mary.)

Note that there is no equivalent in English to the Catalan reflexive pronoun for the person affected, so, e.g.:

Nos comimos los bocadillos.

(We ate the sandwiches.)Los zapatos se caían a trozos.

(The shoes were falling apart.)Me duelen los pies.

(My feet hurt.)

Note also the verb enjoy, which normally needs an object or a reflexive, e.g.:

They enjoyed the party.

(Disfrutamos de la fiesta.)They enjoyed themselves (at the party.)

(Se lo pasaron bien (en la fiesta).)

Oneself is the reflexive corresponding to the personal pronoun one (hom).

Compare each other (one another) with the plural reflexive pronouns, e.g.:

They sent messages to themselves.

(Se enviaron mensajes a ellos mismos.)They sent messages to each other/one another.

(Se enviaron mensajes unos a los otros.)We painted everything ourselves.

(Lo pintamos todo nosotros mismos.)We helped each other/one another.

(Nos ayudamos los unos a los otros.)

See also table of personal pronouns and possessive words.

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