Pronouns – Reflexive pronouns – Povratne zamenice u engleskom jeziku

Povratne zamenice u engleskom jeziku su zamenice koje ističu subjekat, a služe i da označe da je subjekat ujedno i objekat klauzule/rečenice. Završavaju na nastavke -self ili-selves.

Povratne zamenice mogu oponašati objekte i indirektne objekte.

Hajde zajedno da vidimo listu devet povratnih zamenica u engleskom jeziku.

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

Ponekad, ljudi koriste povratnu zamenicu themselves kako bi istakli subjekta rečenice i izbegli da naglase da li je reč o muškoj ili ženskoj osobi:

• Who wants to experience life by themselves, without friends?

Oneself (ili manje formalno yourself) odnosi se na ljude uopšteno:

• I think one has to have the courage to be oneself. (manje formalno …to be yourself.)

Povratne zamenice u engleskom jeziku možemo korsititi za isticanje na različite načine. Pored toga, koristimo ih da bismo naglasili da je subjekat uticao na određenu aktivnost/radnju.

• Tom worked day and night and got promoted.
• Tom worked day and night and got himself promoted. ( rezultat njegovog ličnog truda)
• Tom encouraged me to apply for the manager position, but he got promoted himself.  (Tom je unapređen, ne ja)

Objekat mora biti povratna zamenica ako se objekat prelaznog glagola odnosi na istu osobu ili stvar:

• Mr John walked around the classroom to familiarise himself with it.
• They walked around to familiarise the kids with their new surroundings.

Isto tako: absent … from, avail … of, busy … with, concern … with, occupy … by/with, pride … on, tear … away from, trouble … about/with

Dalje, možemo koristiti ili izostaviti povratne zamenice u engleskom jeziku a da se značenje ne promeni mnogo:

• We are confident that both sets of fans will behave (themselves) at the game.

Isto tako: acclimatise, adapt, (un)dress, hide, move, prepare, shave, wash.

Povratne zamenice upotrebljavamo ako želimo da naglasimo da radnja utiče na osobu ili stvar koja se pominje u subjektu:

• Although Ann assisted other athletes in their preparations for the competition, she found it difficult to acclimatise herself.

Ako se subjekat i objekat posle predloga odnose na istu osobu ili stvar, povratnu zamenicu ćemo staviti iza predloga:

• She was pleased with herself.

Direktan objekat + lična zamenica (direct object + a personal pronoun)

• I don’t remember closing the door behind me. (not … behind myself)

Međutim, ako se subjekat i predlog odnose na istu osobu ili stvar, povratnu zamenicu ćemo staviti posle predlogawe use a reflexive pronoun after the preposition:

• Jane bought the bracelet for herself. (… for her suggests it was bought for someone else)

Myself možemo staviti posle veznika and, radije nego I ili me, iako to neki smatraju nepravilnom upotrebom. Koristeći myself  smanjuje se fokus sa govornika ili onoga ko piše i zvuči ljubaznije.

• I think that Ann and myself have done a great job!

Povratne zamenice u engleskom jeziku poput myself, yourself, etc. ne koristimo posle feel/relax/concentrate/meet/wash/shave/dress:

• She feels nervous. She can’t relax.
• I need to concentrate.
• Tom got up, washed, shaved and dressed.

-selves i each other

Uporedite sledeće primere:

• Ben and Jenny are standing in front of the mirror and looking at themselves. (Ben and Jenny together are looking at Ben and Jenny)
• Ben is looking at Jenny, and Jenny is looking at Ben. They are looking at each other.

Možemo upotrebiti one another umesto each other:

• How long have you known each other?  or …one another?
• Do Tom and Harry live near each other?  or …one another

Takođe, možemo koristiti povratne zamenice (myself/yourself etc.) da naglasimo nešto:

• Who repaired your car?
  I repaired it myself.

Ovo znači da sam samo ja popravila svoj auto, a ne neko drugi. Ovde je myself učinilo jačim zamenicu I. Pogledajte još primera:

• Let’s paint the living room ourselves.
• The book itself wasn’t very good, but I loved the film.
• I am not going to clean your kitchen. You can do it yourself.