What are reflexive pronouns?

Reflexive pronouns are used when the object is the same as the subject. For example, in the sentence "he hurt himself", he and himself refer to the same person.

Reflexive pronouns are also used for emphasis. In this case, they are referred to as intensive pronouns. For example, in the sentence "I spoke to the president himself", the speaker emphasizes that he spoke to the president personally NOT somebody else.

"I always do my homework myself. Nobody helps me."

"He never does his homework himself. The teacher always helps him."

In the above examples, the reflexive/intensive pronouns can be removed without changing the meaning.

List of reflexive pronouns

Subject Pronouns Reflexive Pronouns
I myself
you yourself
he himself
she herself
it itself
we ourselves
you yourselves
they themselves

Subject Pronouns	Reflexive Pronouns
I	*myself*
you	*yourself*
he	*himself*
she	*herself*
it	*itself*
we	*ourselves*
you	*yourselves*
they	*themselves*

Uses of reflexive pronouns

1. Reflexive pronouns are used when the subject and the object refer to the same thing:

He blames himself for what happened.

You might cut yourself.

We will enjoy ourselves in the party.

2. Reflexive pronouns may be used as the object of a preposition:

He made a cup of coffee for himself.

He was talking to himself.

She did the job by herself.

Every morning...

I look at myself in the mirror.

3. Reflexive pronouns are also used for emphasis. In this case they are called intensive pronouns. Intensive pronouns can be removed without changing the meaning of the sentence.

I met the king himself.

The president himself announced the news.

He sent the letter himself

Review:

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

Grammar Exercise - Reflexive Pronouns

Find the right reflexive pronoun:

Personal Pronoun		Possessive Pronoun
1.	I	myself
2.	you	yourself
3.	he	himself
4.	she	herself
5.	it	itself
6.	we	ourselves
7.	you	yourselves
8.	they	themselves

Choose the correct reflexive pronouns:

myself - yourself - himself - herself - itself - ourselves - yourselves - themselves

Alan made this dish himself.

Laura sent the email herself .

We shall not quarrel easily among ourselves, and forget our common objective

Sara, did you write this poem yourself ?

I called her myself .

He cut himself with the knife while he was sharpening it.

My computer often crashes and turns off by itself .

She often talks to herself when she is upset.

John and Alan, I am not going to do the homework for you. You have to do it yourselves .

The students were so noisy. Even Nancy and Leila were making a lot of noise themselves .

Did the children behave themselves ?

I caught sight of myself in the mirror.

Exercises: Reflexive Pronouns 2

Choose the correct reflexive pronouns:

myself - yourself - himself - herself - itself - ourselves - yourselves - themselves

Don't worry! He can do it himself .

Don't be so selfish! You think only about yourself.

Please, John, make yourself feel at home.

She hurt herself while doing the housework.

I told him about the sad news myself.

Good news! The horse came back home by itself.

Did the two of you do this job by yourselves?

Do we live for ourselves or for our loved ones?

The children can look after themselves.

Leila, please, help yourself to the cookies!

Related Page:

What Are Pronouns?

Type of Pronoun

What are subject pronouns?