In English, a reflexive pronoun indicates that the subject of the sentence also receives the action of the verb, as in the English, "I hurt myself."
The words خود and خویش "self" are widely used interchangeably in Dari with any personal pronoun, any enclitic pronoun, and most nouns to create the reflexive:
"myself, of myself, my own" خودم
"himself, herself, of him (her) self, his (her) own" خودش
"themselves, of themselves" خودشان
"the house itself" خود خانه
"the book itself" خود کتاب
The reflexive pronoun خود "self" can also be used as a possessive enclitic pronoun that is linked to the noun by the "Ezafa," which is pronounced as the short vowel, e, and therefore not shown in writing:
"my own book" ketaab-e khoodam کتاب خودم
and as the English "myself," "yourself," "himself" in such sentences as:
"he (she) came himself (herself)." او خودش آمد
In informal speech, it is usual to add enclitic pronouns to خود "self" without taking any reflexive meaning into consideration:
"I, me, my" (literally "myself") خودم
"you, your (literally "yourself") خودت
"they, them" (literally "themselves") خودشان
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