Reflexive pronouns
Look at these examples to see how reflexive pronouns are used.
She looked at herself in the mirror.
I'm trying to teach myself Italian with an app.
Our children walk to school by themselves.
Try this exercise to test your grammar.
- Grammar test 1
Read the explanation to learn more.
Grammar explanation
Reflexive pronouns are words like myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves and themselves. 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.
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.
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.
We can use reflexive pronouns to emphasise that someone does it personally, not anybody else.
The door was definitely locked. I locked it myself.
Are you redecorating your flat yourselves?
We can also use a reflexive pronoun together with the noun it refers to in order to emphasise it.
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.
He usually goes on holiday by himself.
Do you enjoy being by yourself?
Reciprocal pronouns
Notice the difference between plural reflexive pronouns and reciprocal pronouns (each other, one another).
They're buying themselves a new television.
They're buying each other small gifts.
We looked at ourselves in the mirror.
We looked at each other in surprise.
With reciprocal pronouns (e.g. each other), each person does the action to the other person/people but not to themselves.
Do this exercise to test your grammar again.
- Grammar test 2
โ๐๐๐๐๐ฉ๐๐ง๐ ๐ก๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ค:
๐ท-๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐.
-Why do ๐๐ผ๐ blame ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ฌ๐๐ฅ๐ฏ๐๐ฌ just because one of you makes a mistake?
-Don't use the knife, ๐๐ผ๐ could hurt ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ฌ๐๐ฅ๐.
-๐๐ก๐๐ฒ couldn't introduce ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ฆ๐ฌ๐๐ฅ๐ฏ๐๐ฌ because they don't speak English well.
๐ธ-๐ด๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ข, ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ข๐๐๐๐ข ๐๐๐๐.
- ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฒ has been able to fix the problem ๐ก๐๐ซ๐ฌ๐๐ฅ๐.
- While my boss was dealing with his customer, ๐ was selling all the rest of the items ๐ฆ๐ฒ๐ฌ๐๐ฅ๐.
-๐๐ diverted the floodwater away from the house ๐ผ๐๐ฟ๐๐ฒ๐น๐๐ฒ๐.
๐น-๐ฑ๐ข + ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐: ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ / ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐.
-๐๐ง๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ง caught the fleeing thief ๐๐ฒ ๐ก๐ข๐ฆ๐ฌ๐๐ฅ๐.
-๐๐ก๐ ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐๐๐ญ returned home ๐๐ฒ ๐ข๐ญ๐ฌ๐๐ฅ๐!
-Why did you let ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ ๐ซ๐๐ง๐๐ฆ๐จ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ซ climb up the stairs with a heavy shopping basket ๐๐ฒ ๐ก๐๐ซ๐ฌ๐๐ฅ๐ ?
๐บ-๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ (each other / one other).
-๐๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ of us shakes hands ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐จ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ซ๐ฌ every morning.
-It is certain that ๐๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐ฒ๐จ๐ง๐ must respect ๐๐๐๐ก ๐จ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ซ.
-I am proud of ๐ฆ๐ฒ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐จ ๐ฌ๐จ๐ง๐ฌ whenever I see them cooperating with ๐๐๐๐ก ๐จ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ซ.
โ๐ฆ๐๐ค๐ฅ๐๐ ๐:
What difference is between "myself" and "on my own" ?
-๐ฆ๐ฒ๐ฌ๐๐ฅ๐: focuses on the person performing the action; the action affects the subject.
Example: Elina discussed the matter with the manager ๐ก๐๐ซ๐ฌ๐๐ฅ๐.
โ Who discussed the matter with the manager?
โ It was Elina.
-๐จ๐ง ๐ฆ๐ฒ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ง : Focuses on independence or doing something without anyoneโs help.
-Example: Elina discussed the matter with the manager ๐จ๐ง ๐ก๐๐ซ ๐ฌ๐๐ฅ๐.
โWas anyone with Elina to support her in talking to the manager or convincing him?
โ No, she did it without anyoneโs help.
Hello LearnEnglish Team,
Here, B wants to emphasize office. He wants to say he is in the office now, he will be in the office this evening -- he will not be in a shop, in a restaurant or things like that. Am I using the reflexive pronoun correctly to emphasize this? I would like to have your comment on this.
Shetu Yogme
Hello ShetuYogme,
Not quite. The phrase in the office itself adds clarity or specificity. It means 'in the office, not just outside it or generally in the building'.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Tr.
I don't get these two sentences.
We talked to the manager herself, and she agreed to give us our money back.
They're going to receive their medal from the Queen herself.
If you don't mind, could you explain me?
Hello Poe Poe Ohu,
These sentences are examples of this rule:
For example, ...the manager herself... emphasises that it was not some representative of the manager but the actual manager, and that this fact adds strength to or removes doubt from what we heard.
Similarly, ...the Queen herself... emphasises that the medals are not going to be presented by a functionary of the palace but the real Queen, which of course makes it more impressive.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello LearnEnglish Team,
What is difference between yourself and on your own?
I want to know differences between myself & on my own, himself & on his own etc.
Shetu Yogme.
Hello Shetu Yogme,
The meanings are very similar.
Do something on your own means individually without any help.
Do something yourself means that you (and not someone else) can achieve the goal.
For example, you can apply yourself could mean that you do not need to go to an office or another person to do it. You can apply on your own could mean that nobody's help is needed. The meanings overlap quite a lot.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Good
Please let me know the reflexive pronoun for "everyone", thanks
Hi HeenaGV,
Good question. I'm afraid it's not a simple answer!
I would use "themselves", e.g. Everyone enjoyed themselves at the party.
I should point out that from a traditional point of view, it should be a singular pronoun, because "everyone" is also singular. This would lead to a sentence like this: Everyone enjoyed himself at the party. But there is no reason to assume (in this simple context, at least) that all the people at the party were male. Alternatively, we could say: Everyone enjoyed himself or herself. But some people may find this a bit over-long, or not very elegant.
I hope that helps.
Jonathan
LearnEnglish team