REFLEXIVE PRONOUNS

REFLEXIVE PRONOUNS

Reflexive pronouns end in -self or -selves. They refer back to the subject forms of personal pronouns (underlined in the example below):

We didn’t decorate it ourselves. Someone else did it for us.

Subject Pronoun	Reflexive Pronoun
I	Myself
You (Singular)	Yourself
He	Himself
She	Herself
It	Itself
One	Oneself
We	Ourselves
You (Plural)	Yourselves
They	Themselves

Reflexive pronouns for same subject and object

We often use reflexive pronouns when the subject and the object of the verb refer to the same person or thing:

He cut himself on the broken glass.

She made herself a cup of tea and sat down in front of the television.

Parents often blame themselves for the way their children behave.

We use a reflexive pronoun to make it clear who or what is being referred to.

  

Compare

Agnes looked at herself in the mirror.	The subject and the object are the same.
Agnes looked at her in the mirror.	The subject and the object are different. Agnes is looking at someone else in the mirror.

Reflexive pronouns for emphasis

We can use reflexive pronouns for emphasis:

The director of the company wrote to us himself to apologise for the dreadful service. (or The director of the company himself wrote to us to apologise for the dreadful service.)

We don’t use reflexive pronouns on their own as the subject of a clause, but we can use them with a noun or pronoun to emphasise the subject:

Parents and teachers always pass on to children what they themselves have been told, and this has been going on for hundreds, or even thousands of years.

Reflexive pronouns + by meaning alone

We often use reflexive pronouns with by to mean ‘alone’ or ‘without any help’:

Why don’t you go by yourself?

The children made the entire meal by themselves.

Singular:	myself - yourself - himself - herself - itself
Plural:	ourselves - yourselves - themselves

The reflexive pronouns are:

 We use a reflexive pronoun:

• As a direct object when the object is the same as the subject of the verb:

I am teaching myself to play the piano.
Be careful with that knife. You might cut yourself.

Example

Direct Object

I hurt myself trying to fix my father’s car.

You sent yourself another Valentine’s Day card, didn’t you?

Jack introduced himself to his girlfriend’s parents.

Mary walked herself to school for the first time last week.

The bug found itself caught in yet another screen enclosure.

One must get oneself insured if one intends to drive on city streets.

We admonished ourselves for not getting to the concert sooner.

You blame yourselves for the accident, but you had nothing to do with it.

The choir practiced themselves to the point of exhaustion.

Indirect Object

I tried to stay away from that third piece of cake, but I just couldn’t help myself.

You should not do the repair to the air conditioning unit yourself.

Brian offered to drive me to Boston himself but I just couldn’t see putting him out like that.

Little Sara tried to reach the bucket herself but the shelf was way too high.

The alligator ate the large bird and found itself feeling quite full.

One should always brush daily or risk finding oneself in the dentist’s chair.