In English, we use reflexive pronouns to emphasize the subject. Reflexive pronouns are used when the subject and object are the same person.
Reflexive Pronouns:
- I – myself
- you – yourself
- she – herself
- he – himself
- it – itself
- we – ourselves
- you – yourselves
- they – themselves
Reflexive pronouns are used when the subject and object are the same person:
- She studies for Maths herself.
- Make the cake yourself.
- Don’t cut yourself while peeling the potato.
- Barbara bought roses for herself.
- We painted the wall ourselves.
Reflexive pronouns can also be used to emphasize in a sentence:
- I did homework myself.
- The play of Janet itself was very fascinating.
- She herself agrees with the decision.
When used with “-by,” reflexive pronouns emphasize that an action was done without any help (Reciprocal Pronouns):
- I got to the airport by myself.
- We prepared the dinner by ourselves.
each other and one another are used for reciprocal actions:
- We can help each other.
- We promised each other not to lie.
- The runners will be standing up 1 meter here from one another.
Practice:
Write the reflexive pronouns for the following subjects:
- They go to the school by themselves.
- John is a lazy student. He can’t finish his homework himself.
- She thinks much about herself.
- I believe you can finish it yourself.
- I and my friends ate all the food ourselves.
Answers: themselves – himself – herself – yourself (yourselves) – ourselves