he saw himself in the mirror
تحويل للمجهول ممكن

He was seen in the mirror by himself

I agree with the previous answer..

this sentence cannot be passivized

it can't be turned into passive

اجابه خطا تنفع لجمله تانيه
He himself was seen in the mirrorودى فى حاله المثال التالى I SAW HIM IN THE MIRROR والمعنى طبعا مختلف وشكرا للمستر الرائع خالد زلط:rolleyes:

حوار وجدته فى احد المنتديات فنقلته الكم
1. I have a question about the use of passive sentences. My understanding is that passive sentences are not used to talk about things you do to yourself. I have not learned this as a grammatical rule, but I have never used it to talk about myself. My friend says there is no rule against it.

For example,
a) "I have been seen by myself"
My friend says this is fine when you see yourself in the mirror, but I cannot understand how you can be seen by yourself. I would have to say "I saw myself" or "I have seen myself"

b) "I have been punched by myself"
Same problem for me...I can't accept this phrase as being logically natural, unless the person had a psychological problem, and couldn't control his/her movements. It sounds like "myself" is not the same as "I". I feel uncomfortable with this phrase, and would want to change it to an active sentence. Am I weird to want to do this?

c) "I have been shot by myself"
Again, I would say something else, like "I have accidentally shot myself." A grammar expert said there is nothing wrong with passive sentences being used in this way. Do I have a wrong understanding of the phrase "I have been---by---"? I am very confused.

It would be good to know some of your thoughts... Thanks!
I agree with your friend that these are grammatically correct, at least in theory. And I agree with you that usually it would be very strange way to say these things. In particular, example b is strange, because punching (generally) refers to an intentional act, and takes some distance from the target to carry out.

In most cases we would use myself (a "reflexive pronoun") as you do in your preferred sentences. However, you could use the passive if you wanted to. I think that this is more likely to be done humorously:
I was given a nice pair of socks by my mother, an educational book by my father, but my favorite gift - a video game - was given to me by ---- ME!

#2
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I see! Thank you so much for your answer Cagey. It is grammatically correct, but strange things to say. So, apart from the humorous use, it would be strange to use it in normal contexts, i.e. it would not be used interchangeably with the active form of the sentences.

By the way, I like your example sentence! Thanks!

فى منتدى اخر
•
•
• Reflexive pronouns in passive
•
• Verbs followed by reflexive pronouns cannot be used to passive voice.
• I saw myself in the mirror.
• Myself was seen in the mirror. (Incorrect)
فى منتدى اخر
• In English there is no verb form for the middle voice, though some uses may be classified as middle voice, often resolved via a reflexive pronoun, as in "Fred shaved", which may be expanded to "Fred shaved himself" – contrast with active "Fred shaved John" or passive "John was shaved by Fred". This need not be reflexive, as in "my clothes soaked in detergent overnight". English used to have a distinct form, called the passival, which was displaced over the early 19th century by the passive progressive (progressive passive), and is no longer used in English.[5][6] In the passival, one would say "the house is building", which is today instead "the house is being built"; likewise "the meal is eating", which is now "the meal is being eaten". Note that the similar "Fred is shaving" and "the clothes are soaking" remain grammatical. It is suggested that the progressive passive was popularized by the Romantic poets, and is connected with Bristol usage.[5][7]
• Many deponent verbs in Latin are survivals of the Proto-Indo-European middle voice.[citation needed]