Binding (linguistics)

Binding in linguistics is when words change based on their relationship to other words in a sentence. Think of it like a game of "tag" - some words are "it" and have to match with other words that are "tagged" in a different way. So, for example, if we say "I washed myself," the word "myself" is "tagged" to match with the word "I," because they both refer to the same person. But if we say "He washed me," the word "me" is tagged to match with the word "he," because they are doing the action to the other person. It's like a rule that words follow to make sure the sentence is clear and understandable.