 Middle constructions are generally characterized as generic sentences which have a non-agentive subject and an obligatory adverbial. Let us look at an example. In this standard sentence, this boy sits well, this boy is an agentive subject, sits the verb and well an optional adverbial. In this chair sits well, we now have a non-agentive subject, the verb sit and an obligatory adverbial. This chair sits would be ungrammatical. In this example, sit is a so-called middle verb, the sentence is a middle construction. Middle constructions can be defined by the following properties. They cannot relate to particular events. Yesterday this chair sat well is ungrammatical. They cannot be used as vocatives. Sit well chair doesn't work either. Furthermore, middle constructions cannot occur in the progressive aspect as in the ungrammatical sentence, this chair is sitting well and middles cannot be passivized since middle verbs have no objects. It was sat well by this chair doesn't work. Whereas the formation of middles is very productive in present-day English as in these examples, which are often used in bureaucracy situations, other languages, such as German, use reflexive constructions instead.