❓When Do We Use Reflexive Pronouns?
1️⃣When the subject does something to itself
- 🔪"I cut myself while cooking."
- 🪞"She looked at herself in the mirror."
❌Common mistake for Brazilians: Using a reflexive pronoun when the subject and object are different people.
"I cut myself my brother." ❌ → WRONG
"I cut my brother." ✔ → CORRECT
2️⃣To show emphasis (emphatic use)
- 🎂"I myself made this cake." → emphasizes that I did it alone
- 👨💼"The president himself visited the school."
❌Mistake: Confusing emphasis with reflexive meaning
"I made myself the cake." ❌ → This means "I made the cake for myself," not emphasizing that I did it alone
3️⃣With certain verbs that usually take reflexive pronouns
- 🎉enjoy yourself
→ divirta-se
- 🍽️help yourself
→ sirva-se
- 👋introduce yourself
→ apresente-se
- 🏆pride yourself on
→ orgulhar-se de
- 😇behave yourself
→ comporte-se
❌Mistake: Using "me" instead of "myself"
"I enjoyed me." ❌ → WRONG
"I enjoyed myself." ✔ → CORRECT
4️⃣With prepositions to show the action is done alone or independently
- 👩💼"She did it by herself." → She did it alone
- 🏠"They built the treehouse themselves." → They did it alone
