Reflections on “reflect”
Remember to use “reflect” in the passive or with a reflexive pronoun when you mean “is manifested” or “is shown”:
Incorrect: “The mood of the poem reflects in the sombre diction.”
Correct: “The mood of the poem reflects itself in the sombre diction.”
Correct (and somewhat more elegant): “The mood of the poem is reflected in the sombre diction.”
Your safest bet is the passive as this is the more common option – Google, for instance, returns some 25 million hits for “is reflected” compared to 92,000 for “reflects itself”.
Jason Blake and Monika Kavalir
(Skupno 25 obiskov, današnjih obiskov 1)