This is a great explanation of reflexive verbs - much better than anything I've ever seen in a text book. I especially love your explanation of the body parts thing.
The other piece of the reflexive verb puzzle that used to totally mystify me, is that they are used to express the passive voice.
The most common example of this is "se habla español" which does not mean that one is speaking Spanish to oneself, it means "Spanish is spoken." Other examples would be things like "se usa" to mean something is used (you'll see that one on signs warning that a surveillance camera is in use or something like that.) Once I understood that use of reflexive verbs, things became much more clear. :-) Cat
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ninetydegrees
no subject
on 2016-01-19 08:51 am (UTC)The other piece of the reflexive verb puzzle that used to totally mystify me, is that they are used to express the passive voice.
The most common example of this is "se habla español" which does not mean that one is speaking Spanish to oneself, it means "Spanish is spoken." Other examples would be things like "se usa" to mean something is used (you'll see that one on signs warning that a surveillance camera is in use or something like that.) Once I understood that use of reflexive verbs, things became much more clear.
:-)
Cat