Reflexive pronouns are words like myself, herself, or ourselves. They are used to show that an action is directed back upon the person doing the action. They mirror, or reflect, the subject of a sentence — that’s why they are called reflexive. For example:
The girl is looking at herself in a mirror.She is looking at her own image.
They are taking a picture of themselves.That’s why such pictures are called selfies!
There are ten reflexive pronouns in English. Let’s find out what they are and how they work!
What are the English reflexive pronouns?
Here is the full list of English reflexive pronouns:
| Subject pronoun | Reflexive pronoun | Example |
|---|---|---|
I | myself | I burned myself when I was cooking. |
you (one) | yourself | Kelly, don’t do that, you are going to hurt yourself! |
you (many) | yourselves | You and Jack should control yourselves in class. |
it | itself | The air conditioner turns itself off. |
she | herself | Jessica was preparing herself for the championship. |
he | himself | Oliver introduced himself. |
they (one) | themself / themselves | We don’t want someone to hurt themself / themselves*. (see below for more details) |
they (many) | themselves | The boys called themselves “Wolf Squad.” |
we | ourselves | We protect ourselves against viruses by wearing masks. |
one | oneself | It is important to know oneself. |
All reflexive pronouns in English are words that consist of two parts (something known as “compound words”). What are the parts?
The first part of a reflexive pronoun matches the subject of the sentence.
Most reflexive pronouns begin with a possessive adjective:
my-, her-, your-, our-
Three reflexive pronouns begin with an object pronoun:
him-, it-, them-
One reflexive pronoun, oneself, begins with one-. It is used when the subject of a sentence is one or when the subject of the sentence is someone “in general.”
The second part is always -self or -selves.
Use -self for singular subjects (for example, myself).
Use -selves for plural subjects (for example, ourselves).
Remember that you can be both singular and plural in English, so the context will tell you what to use, yourselfor yourselves.
When to use reflexive pronouns?
Basically, you need reflexive pronouns in two situations:
When the subject and the object are the same
For emphasis
Let’s look at each of them in detail.
Using English reflexive pronouns when the subject and the object are the same
When the subject and the object of a sentence are the same, the object will be a reflexive pronoun.
Remember, the subject is who/what is doing the action in a sentence, while an object is any noun in a sentence that is not the subject. For example:
But, if Lora is both the subject and an object, we use a reflexive pronoun:
You should use a reflexive pronoun for any time these two conditions are present:
The subject and the object are the same
They are in the same “clause” (one “subject + verb” block)
Let's look at some examples of how and when you should use a reflexive pronoun for some different kinds of objects!
Examples of reflexive pronouns as direct objects
We use reflexive pronouns when the subject and the “direct” object of a verb are the same. Recall that a direct object is the object that “receives” the action of the verb.
For example, look at this sentence with a direct object:
In this sentence, the subject (I) and the direct object (vegetables) are different, so we use the object pronoun (them).
Now look at another sentence:
When the subject and the object are the same, you always need to use a reflexive pronoun!
You can use reflexive pronouns with any transitive verb, that is, with verbs that can have a direct object, for example:
- blame oneself
- burn oneself
- control oneself
- convince oneself
- encourage oneself
- introduce oneself
- hurt oneself
- kill oneself
- know oneself
- watch oneself
- protect oneself
- teach oneself
For more examples of reflexive pronouns as direct objects, check out the examples in the table above! All of those show reflexive pronouns as direct objects.
Examples of reflexive pronouns as indirect objects
Reflexive pronouns can also be used to replace a noun that the action is “for” (the “indirect object”). An indirect object benefits from an action or receives something. For example:
- I baked myself a chocolate cake to celebrate my first day at work.You can also say: I baked a chocolate cake for myself.
- He sends himself postcards when he travels.You can also say: He sends postcards to himself.
- Lucille and Jenny wrote themselves letters.You can also say: Lucille and Jenny wrote letters to themselves.
You can use a reflexive pronoun with any verb that takes an indirect object:
- make oneself something
- send oneself something
- give oneself something
- show oneself something
- cook oneself something
- tell oneself something
- write oneself something
- draw oneself something
- grow oneself something
Reflexive pronouns as objects of prepositions
Reflexive pronouns may also be used in prepositional phrases (preposition + noun) when the subject and the object of the preposition are the same. For example:
Reflexive pronouns in sentences with more than one clause
You can only use a reflexive pronoun to refer back to the subject of the “clause” that the reflexive pronoun is in. This means that the subject and the reflexive pronoun need to “share” a verb, not just a sentence. For example:
You cannot use a reflexive pronoun if the subject and the object are in different clauses:
If you want to refer to the subject of an earlier clause, use an object pronoun instead.
Using reflexive pronouns for emphasis in English
You can use reflexive pronouns when it is important for you to emphasize who / what exactly did something. In these situations, you will want…
To draw attention to the fact that someone did something alone. Usually, the reflexive pronoun will be at the end of a sentence with this meaning.
You may want to highlight that it is not someone else, for example:
- Sarah designed her house herself.She didn’t hire a designer!
- The singer manages his social media himself.It’s not his team who does it for him.
Or you may think it’s unusual for a person to do something, for example:
- The passengers carried the boat to land themselves.Normally, the crew does it.
These are both short versions of the longer phrase by + reflexive pronoun, which shows that someone did something alone, or without any help. For instance:
- Mark was sitting at a table all by himself.He was all alone there; no one else was at the table.
- Linda prefers to work by herself.She doesn’t like to work in a team.
To draw attention to the actual physical body of someone/something. Usually the reflexive pronoun will be right after that person/thing in a sentence.
It might be a famous person, for example:
- The president himself gave me this medal.Wow, the president! With his own hands!
- The Rolling Stones themselves stayed in this hotel.They actually were here, maybe in this very room!
Or you may want to stress that it’s only that person/thing, without anything or anyone else, for example:
- The house itself didn’t get burned....but everything inside it did.
- The apples themselves tasted wonderful....but the spices we put on them did not.
Is ‘each other’ a reflexive pronoun?
No, it's not! Each other / one another are called reciprocal pronouns because they have a different meaning: each of two or more people do something to other(s), not to themselves. Compare:
- Fred and Natalia prepared themselves for the final exam.Fred prepared Fred; Natalia prepared Natalia.
- Fred and Natalia prepared each other for the final exam.Fred prepared Natalia; Natalia prepared Fred.
Conclusion
We have looked at the ten reflexive pronouns in English. They are used:
When the subject and the object of a clause are the same
As direct or indirect objects and objects of prepositions, for example:
He blamed himself for the accident. (direct object)
We bought ourselves a present. (indirect object)
I saw a picture of myself in the newspaper. (object of a preposition)
For emphasis, for example:
- Please, let me finish it myself.
- The king himself slept in this bed!
Now it’s your turn to use them! Test your skills with these English reflexive pronoun activities!
:quality(80))
:quality(75))
:quality(75))
:quality(75))
:quality(75))