Pronouns: Reflexive Pronouns

Pronouns: Reflexive Pronouns

Reflexive Pronouns

are words that refer to the person, animal or thing that is the subject of the verb. They refer back to a person or thing. We often use reflexive pronouns when the subject and the object of a verb are the same. 

Examples of Reflexive Pronouns:

myself, yourself

herself , himself

itself, ourselves

yourselves, themselves

Examples of Reflexive Pronouns

I cut myself when I was making dinner last night.

I hope you enjoy yourselves at the party tonight!

My phone isn't working properly. It turns itself off for no reason.

We need to believe in ourselves more.

Adding Emphasis

We can add a reflexive pronoun for emphasis when it's unusual or different.

Example:

He wants to pass his driving test so that he can drive himself to work.

She broke her arm, so she couldn't wash herself very easily.

Adding Emphasis

We can use reflexive pronouns to emphasize that someone does it personally, not anybody else.

Example:

The door was definitely locked. I locked it myself.

Are you redecorating your flat yourselves?

Adding Emphasis

We can also use a reflexive pronoun together with the noun it refers to in order to emphasize it.

Example:

We talked to the manager herself, and she agreed to give us our money back.

Parents themselves need to take more responsibility for their children's learning.

By + reflexive pronoun

We can use by + reflexive pronoun to mean alone.

Examples:

He usually goes on holiday by himself.

Do you enjoy being by yourself?

Remember:

You use reflexive pronouns when the subject and object of a sentence are the same thing.

Example:

Jose' made breakfast for himself.