What Are Reflexive Pronouns? (with Examples)
The reflexive
pronouns are: myself, yourself, herself, himself, itself, ourselves,yourselves,
and themselves.
These words can be either reflexive pronouns or emphatic pronouns. This page is about their use as reflexive pronouns. A reflexive pronoun is used with another noun (or pronoun) when something does something to itself. For example:
·
John pinched himself.
(The reflexive
pronoun himself tells us that John did something to John.)
Contrast the
example above with this:
·
John pinched his sister.
(There is no
reflexive pronoun in this example.)
Examples of Reflexive Pronouns
Below are some
examples of reflexive pronouns. Using a reflexive pronoun means you do not
have to repeat the subject (shown here in bold). (Repeating the subject would
be clumsy.)
·
Alison still does not trust herself.
(Alison does
not trust Alison.)
·
The members argued amongst themselves for an hour.
(The members argued
amongst the members.)
·
We often ask ourselves why we left London.
(We often ask us.)
(Note: The subject is known as the antecedent of
the reflexive pronoun.)
Identifying Reflexive Pronouns
In most
sentences, somebody does something to someone else. For example:
·
I like him.
·
He spoke to her.
·
She thumped him.
·
The dog bit her.
However,
sometimes people (or things) do things to themselves, and this is when you
can use myself, yourself, herself, himself, itself, ourselves,yourselves,
and themselves as reflexive pronouns. For example:
· I like myself.
· He spoke to himself.
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· She thumped herself.
· The dog bit itself.
Some Real Examples of Reflexive Pronouns
Here are some
real examples of reflexive pronouns:
·
I often quote myself.
It adds spice to my conversation.
·
We forfeit three-fourths of ourselves in order to be like other people.
(Arthur Schopenhauer, 1788-1860)
·
If the world should blow itself up, the last audible voice would be
that of an expert saying it can't be done. (Peter Ustinov, 1921-2004)
·
If history repeats itself,
and the unexpected always happens, how incapable must man be of learning from
experience. (George Bernard Shaw, 1856-1950)
Note:
Sometimes, the subject can be implied. For example:
·
The ability to delude yourself may be an important survival tool.
(Jane Wagner)
This could also
have been written:
·
The ability of you to delude yourself may be an important survival tool.
(Jane Wagner)
|
What are reflexive pronouns?
Reflexive pronouns are used when the complement of the verb is the
same as the subject.
Example:
He hurt himself.
Reflexive pronouns can also be used to give more emphasis to the
subject or object.
Example:
I wrote it myself. (I want to emphasize the fact that I wrote it.)
I spoke to the president himself. (I spoke to the president personally NOT somebody else.)
Reflexive pronouns
Subject Pronouns
|
I
|
you
|
he
|
she
|
it
|
we
|
you
|
they
|
Reflexive Pronouns
|
myself
|
yourself
|
himself
|
herself
|
itself
|
ourselves
|
yourselves
|
themselves
|
The words " myself,
yourself, himself..." are reflexive
pronouns. Reflexive pronouns are words that show that the person who does the
action is also the person who is affected by it:
Examples:
"I always do my homework myself.
Nobody helps me."
"He never does his
homework himself. The
teacher always helps him."
Personal pronouns
|
Possessive adjectives
|
Possessive pronouns
|
Reflexive pronouns
|
Object pronouns
|
I
|
my
|
mine
|
myself
|
me
|
you
|
your
|
yours
|
yourself
|
you
|
he
|
his
|
his
|
himself
|
him
|
she
|
her
|
hers
|
herself
|
her
|
it
|
its
|
its
|
itself
|
it
|
we
|
our
|
ours
|
ourselves
|
us
|
you
|
your
|
yours
|
yourselves
|
you
|
they
|
their
|
theirs
|
themselves
|
them
|
Pronoun
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