The other day, I came across this quote from the director Nora Ephron:

“We have a game we play when we’re waiting for tables in restaurants, where you have to write the five things that describe yourself on a piece of paper. When I was [in my twenties], I would have put: ambitious, Wellesley graduate, daughter, Democrat, single. Ten years later not one of those five things turned up on my list. I was: journalist, feminist, New Yorker, divorced, funny. Today not one of those five things turns up in my list: writer, director, mother, sister, happy.”

It is not easy to create only 5 adjectives to describe yourself, but here go mine:                                                                              Determined, Optimistic, Citizen of the World, Teacher, Learner

So… it’s your turn, what are 5 adjectives that best describe you RIGHT NOW?

And to wrap up,  a mini-lesson on using the reflexive pronouns:

Reflexive (adjective): To reflect back on a subject (like a mirror)

So, if your subject is the same as your object, you need to use the reflexive. Imagine your subject looking into a mirror and seeing “itself”:                   He sent himself an email    vs    They sent him an email  (the subject is not the same)                                                                 Subject        object                        Subject       object

Here’s a chart of all the reflexives:

I = myself                       I opened the shop myself

You= Yourself                 Please, make yourself at home

He= Himself                   John sent himself a copy

She= Herself                  Anna helped herself to seconds (she served herself another dish)

It= Itself                          The dog injured itself playing.

Note! Plurals must be used with the “selves”                                                                                                                                       They= Themselves        They drove themselves to the airport.                                                                                                           We= Ourselves              We told ourselves we would never do that again.                                                                       You=Yourselves             You can do your homework  yourselves.

Now try some of these exercises:                                                                                                                                     http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/exercises/pronouns/reflexive_pronouns.htm

http://www.5minuteenglish.com/jun3.htm

http://a4esl.org/q/j/tm/fb-reflexive.html

Photo Source: http://www.designyourway.net/drb/famous-quotes-illustrated-through-minimalist-posters/