Reflexive Verbs

First we need to know what we mean when we say a "passive" sentence.

"Passive" sentences can be understood best by contrasting them with "active" sentences. They can express the same idea, but in a different form. Let's take a look at the following two sentences:

John broke the window.
The window was broken by John.

• In the first sentence, John is the subject. He is the one who does the breaking, the action which is expressed by the verb.
• In the second sentence, the window is the subject, but the window doesn't do the breaking.

[ view full lesson ]