MULTIMEDIA-ENGLISH | ||
ACTIVITY SHEET (created by the user: Profe) |
Before doing this activity you may need to read the text you will find at the end
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Item | Match | Comments |
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Deberías pensar un poco más en ti misma | You should think a bit more about yourself | |
Ella se levantó feliz y se besó en el espejo | She got up happy and she kissed herself on the mirror | |
Nick se casó ayer | Nick got married yesterday | |
Estás hablando solo, ¿te pasa algo? | You're talking to yourself, ¿are you all right? | |
Miró la foto y se vió conduciendo un coche rojo | He looked at the photograph and saw himself driving a red car | |
My pez se murió ayer | My fish died yesterday | |
El ordenador se arregló ayer, pero hoy no funciona | The computer was fixed yesterday, but today it doesn't work | |
La maceta se cayó de la ventana | The flower pot fell off the window | |
¡Ay! Me he mordido | Ouch! I bit myself |
morder: bite - bit - bitten |
Me quemé mientras estaba cocinando | I burnt myself while I was cooking | |
Linda se está pintando las uñas | Linda is painting her nails | |
Se enfadó consigo mismo | He got angry at himself | |
John se pintó la cara de negro | John painted his face black | |
Nicky se fue y no volvió | Nicky left and never came back | |
Su marido está de viaje así que duerme sola | Her husband is on a trip, so she sleeps by herself | |
Sabina siempre habla de sí mismo en sus canciones | Sabina is always talking about himself in his songs | |
Los días de diario come solo | On week days he eats by himself | |
La meditación te enseña a curarte a ti mismo | Meditation teaches you how to heal yourself | |
El puente se rompió y un coche se cayó al río | The bridge broke and a car fell down into the river | |
Ella se está mirando en el espejo | She's looking at herself in the mirror | |
En este país los niños tienen que cuidar de sí mismos | In this country, children have to look after themselves |
also: ...take care of themselves también podríamos decir: los niños tienen que cuidarse solos |
Muévete un poco a la derecha | Move a bit to the right | |
Estoy tan sucio que no me conozco a mí mismo | I'm so dirty I can't recognize myself | |
La carretera se terminó ayer y se inaugura mañana | The road was finished yesterday and will be inaugurated tomorrow | |
Estamos preocupados por nosotros, no por la empresa | We are worried about ourselves, not about the company | |
Déjame hacerlo solo | Let me do it by myself | |
Conócete a ti mismo | Know yourself | |
¡Ay! Me he mordido la lengua | Ouch! I bit my tongue | |
Lávate la cara, está sucia | Wash your face, it's dirty | |
¿Te gusta? Lo he hecho yo solito | Do you like it? I did it by myself | |
Él solo está enamorado de sí mismo | He is only in love with himself | |
Me hice daño jugando al fútbol | I hurt myself playing football | |
Se cayó por las escaleras | He fell downstairs | |
Son tan egoístas, siempre pensando en ellos mismos | They're so selfish, always thinking of themselves |
pensar en = to think of / about |
Sé bueno contigo mismo | Be good to yourself |
singular MYSELF - YOURSELF - HIMSELF / HERSELF / ITSELF
plural OURSELVES - YOURSELVES - THEMSELVES
These forms are used with transitive verbs when the subject and the object are the same person (when the person doing the action and receiving the action are the same)
- I cut bread = I cut, the bread is cut
- I cut myself = I cut, I was cut
- Megan's looking at herself in the mirror = Megan is looking, and what she sees is... Megan
- please, tell me about yourselves
- We are giving ourselves a rest
- Are you talking to yourself?
- They only think about themselves
Reflexive pronouns can also refer to possessives and objects
- His songs are always talking about himself
- She dressed as a zombie for Halloween, but her dress was only scaring herself
- I'm going to tell her a few things about herself
- The psychoanalyst helped me to get to know me myself better
BY ONESELF means "alone, without company" or "without help"
- She is living in a flat by herself (= alone)
- Look, I did it by myself (= without help)
"All by oneself" is the emphatic form
- I learned to drive all by myself (= completely without help, just me alone)
CAREFUL !
Many verbs are used in the reflexive form in other languages, but not in English.
- This morning I didn't shave (we don't say: I shaved myself, but simply, I shaved)
- I sat on the sofa (you can: say I sat myself, but it sounds very formal or old-fashioned)
- She got dressed (not usually: she dressed herself)
- I woke up (not: I woke myself up)
- I fell down (not: I fell myself down, because the verb "to fall" is not transitive, so it has no object, so it can't use a reflexive form)
But these transitive verbs which do not normally use reflexive forms, can use it when we need to make clear who is doing what to whom
- Barbers shave people who don't want to shave themselves (if you don't say "themselves", the object of that second "shave" is not clear)
- She is old enough to dress herself
- He can't bend his knees, so he can't sit himself down, he needs help.
PRONOMINAL VERBS: Some languages, such as Spanish, French or Italian, use reflexive forms for many verbs even when there is no reflexive idea. In these cases you can't use a reflexive pronoun in English.
I broke my leg (I did the action, my leg received the action, so it is not a transitive idea):
- Je me suis cassé la jambe
- Me he roto la pierna
- Mi sono rotto la gamba
I remember it (I do the action, "it" is the object)
- Je me souviens
- Me acuerdo
Note for Spanish speakers
El problema es que las formas españolas equivalentes (me-te-nos, etc) se usan para muchas otras cosas además del reflexivo, y en muchas ocasiones no se traduce porque no significa nada (verbos pronominales). Sólo podemos usar las formas reflexivas cuando el sujeto y el objeto son la misma persona:
- ayer me caí =yesterday I fell down (pronominal)
- él se rió mucho = él rió mucho = he laughed a lot (pronominal)
- ella se lava la cara =she washes her face (ella lava, su cara es lo lavado) (pronominal)
- ella se pintó de rojo =she painted herself red (ella pinta, ella es "la cosa" pintada) (reflexive)
- esto se puso aquí =this was put here (pasiva refleja: esto fue puesto aquí)
- me llamo Juan =I am called John (pasiva refleja: yo soy llamado Juan)