【必學文法】英文中的照妖鏡「反身代名詞」 用法懶人包!

放假想好好放鬆卻不能說 I want to relax myself?
自己一個人去看電影也不是 go to a movie myself?
正確使用反身代名詞可以讓整句話更活潑多變
但誤用的話可能會讓對方覺得你很 low
超實用的英文文法——反身代名詞!
學會之後英文能力馬上連跳三級!

反身代名詞大解析! (How do reflexive pronouns get their meaning? Syntax Video #4)

Reflexive Pronouns 反身代名詞包括:

  • myself
  • yourself
  • yourselves
  • himself
  • herself
  • itself
  • ourselves
  • themselves

「反身代名詞」不只是重要文法,更是加強語氣的好工具。以下是要注意的地方:

  • 注意後面連接的動詞
  • 注意後面連接的介係詞:除了 “by” 以外,介系詞的後面通常也不應該出現介系詞
  • 注意是不是有多個情境參與者:反身代名詞只能指涉句子裡同樣的人事物,如果描述的情景有一個以上的參與者,還有互動的動作在發生,反身代名詞就不是正確的用語,而正確的的代名詞就應該是 “each other”。

以下我們分別整理好五組例句,讓大家馬上了解如何使用反身代名詞:

1. 反身代名詞基本的用法:把動作「反彈」到句子開頭的名詞身上。

反身代名詞最基本的用法就是表達一個句子的「主詞」也是「動詞的受詞」。簡單的解釋就是中文講的「照顧自己」、「告訴自己」、「把自己搞好」的這種語法。

(O) The kitten licked itself until its fur is shiny and smooth.
小貓把自己的毛舔到光滑。

(O) The baby cried himself to sleep.
寶寶哭著哭著就睡著了。

(O) The children thoroughly washed themselves after a day outdoors.
孩子們在外面玩了一天以後徹底的把自己洗乾淨了。

(O) The young musician taught herself to play five different kinds of instruments.
年輕的音樂家教會了自己五種不同的樂器。

(O) The athlete with a broken shoulder is frustrated because he cannot dress himself.
肩膀摔斷的運動員因為他無法自己穿衣服而感到沮喪。

(O) The students all enjoyed themselves at the concert after finishing the final exams.
學生們在完成期末考試後,在演唱會享受自我。

2. 反身代名詞是加強語氣的好工具

英文有許多強調語法的用語。當反身代名詞的出現是為了強調語態,雖然在文法上是可有可無的,可是在對話時,可以明顯強調想要表達的情感或者意圖。

Please take care.
請保重。

(加強語氣)
Please take care of yourself.
請好好照顧自己。

Please keep the kitchen clean.
請保持廚房的整潔。

(加強語氣)
Please clean up after yourself after each meal.
用餐後請自己打掃。

I cannot believe that I drove 600 miles in one night.
我不敢相信我在一個晚上開車開了 600 英里。

(加強語氣)
I cannot believe that I drove 600 miles myself in one night.
我不敢相信我自己一個晚上開車開了 600 英里。

The employees who do not receive proper training are more likely to get hurt.
有接受適當訓練的員工更容易受到傷害。

(加強語氣)
The employees who do not receive proper training have higher chances of hurting themselves.
沒有接受適當訓練的員工傷害自己的機會較高。

3. 不適合反身代名詞的動詞

常常練習、閱讀、觀察別人的英語用詞時,就會發現有的動詞即使是要反射到同樣的名詞身上,也永遠不會使用到反身代名詞。如果畫蛇添足、硬是套上反身代名詞,就會造成牛頭不對馬嘴,不論怎麼聽或者閱讀都不對的感覺。來看看例子:

(不順暢的語態)
It’s impossible for the employees themselves to adapt to the new software.
員工不可能自己去適應新的軟體。

(順暢的語態)
The employees need professional training to adapt to the new software.
員工需要專業的培訓來適應新的軟體。

(不順暢的語態)
I am dying to shower myself after doing sports.
做完運動以後我巴不得給自己淋浴。

(順暢的語態)
I am dying to take a shower after doing sports.
做完運動以後我巴不得趕快淋浴。

*延伸*
看到好多種動詞,很難記起來他們的用法?可以看看這篇文章:
增加片語量小技巧:掌握一個動詞的各種搭配詞!超常見5個動詞的搭配詞整理

(不順暢的語態)
You need to relax yourself after a whole week of working overtime.
加班了一個星期之後你需要自己放鬆。

(順暢的語態)
After working overtime for a whole week, you need to relax your body and mind.
加班了一個星期之後你需要放鬆的身與心情。

(不順暢的語態)
I can never myself remember the important dates.
我自己永遠不能記得重要約會的日子。

(順暢的語態)
It’s difficult for me to remember dates.
記得日期對我來講是很困難的。

(不順暢的語態)
The family moved themselves to Canada.
一家人把自己搬動到加拿大。

(順暢的語態)
The family immigrated to Canada.
一家人移民到加拿大了。

(不順暢的語態)
During vacation, she feels like she is meeting herself again.
渡假時,她感覺再次與自己見面。

(順暢的語態)
During vacation, she feels like she is getting to know herself again.
渡假時,她感覺再次認識自己。

(順暢的語態)
During vacation, she feels like she is getting to know her own thoughts and feelings again.
渡假時,她感覺再次了解自我的心靈。

4. 介詞的後面不應該出現反身代名詞

除了常常出現的 “by myself, by himself, by themselves” 的片語之外,大部份的介詞後面,都應該使用受格 (objective) 或者所有格 (possessive) 來正確的表達想法與情景。如果過度的使用反身代名詞,就會像是說「我去淋浴我自己」一樣,邏輯詭異。

(不正確的形容)
He set down his backpack next to himself.
他把背包放下來在自己的旁邊。

(正確的形容)
He set down his backpack next to his legs.
他把背包放在腿的旁邊。

(正確的形容)
He set his backpack down besides his chair.
他把背包放在椅子的旁邊。

(正確的形容)
He strapped his backpack on the back of his chair.
他把背包綁在椅背上面。

(不正確的形容)
She placed her purse on herself.
她把皮包放在自己的上面。

(正確的形容)
She placed her purse on her own lap.
她把皮包放在腿的上面。

(正確的形容)
She put her purse down on the chair, behind her lower back.
她把皮包放椅子上,背部的後面。

(正確的形容)
She hung her purse on the back of her chair.
她把皮包掛在椅背上面。

(不正確的形容)
She applied the bandage on herself.
她把繃帶用在自己上。

(正確的形容)
She applied the bandage on the wound on her leg.
她把繃帶用在腿上的傷口。

許多不同的介詞出現時,所形容的一切都需要仔細解說。可是如果只有一個人、或者單獨的團體出現時,就沒有那麼複雜。

(X) The basketball player practiced with himself.
籃球選手與自己練習。

(O) The basketball player practiced alone.
籃球選手獨自的練習。

(O) The painter can only work by himself.
畫家只能單獨的工作。

(O) The sensitive teenager never goes to the mall or the movies by herself.
敏感的情少女從來沒有自己去商場或看電影。

(O) The child learned to make breakfast by himself by the time he was in third grade.
小孩子在小學三年級時就學會了自己做早飯。

(O) The young couple declined their friends’ invite to go camping, because they prefer to explore nature by themselves.
年輕的夫妻拒絕了他們的朋友一起去露營的邀請,因為他們更喜歡自己去探索大自然。

5.  互動 (reciprocal) 的動作正確的代名詞是 “each other”

在言語表達中,反身代名詞的作用一直是「把注意力抓回來到原點」。如果想要表達的事情有「一個以上的參與者」,並且他們之間有「互動」(reciprocal) 的話,使用反身代名詞就會變得不正確了。這種時候,正確的的代名詞是 “each other”,才會把想要表達的動詞,像是網球一樣,有互相來回的感覺。

(X) The opposing players glared at themselves when they shook hands.
對立的球員在握手時激烈的盯著自己 。

(O) The opposing players glared at each other when they shook hands.
對立的球員在握手時激烈的盯著對方。

(X) The siblings always took care of himself and herself.
兄弟姐妹一直照顧他自己還有她自己。

(O) The siblings always took care of each other.
兄弟姐妹一直照顧對方。

(X) The kittens live in the same house, yet they have their own territories because they hate themselves.
小貓們住在同一個房子、各自有地盤、因為它們憎恨自己。

(O) The kittens live in the same house, yet they have their own territories because they hate each other.
小貓們住在同一個房子、各自有地盤、因為它們憎恨對方。

反身代名詞 (Intermediate English Speaking and Listening Practice Part: 11 Reflexive pronouns)

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