Reflexive Pronouns

• Reflect back: Always refer to the sentence subject
• Specific forms: Change according to person/number
• Two main uses: Reflexive actions and emphasis
• Required after certain verbs: Some verbs demand reflexive pronouns
• No subject function: Never used as sentence subjects

Person	Singular	Plural
First Person	myself	ourselves
Second Person	yourself	yourselves
Third Person	himself, herself, itself	themselves

• "I cut myself while shaving this morning."
• "I need to remind myself to call my mother."
• "I bought myself a new laptop as a reward."

• "We prepared ourselves for the difficult exam."
• "Let's treat ourselves to a nice dinner tonight."
• "We found ourselves lost in the unfamiliar city."

• "You should be proud of yourself for this achievement."
• "Did you hurt yourself when you fell?"
• "You need to prepare yourself for the interview."

• "You all need to conduct yourselves professionally."
• "Did you enjoy yourselves at the party last night?"
• "You should give yourselves more credit for this success."

• "He taught himself to play the guitar."
• "She looked at herself in the mirror for a long time."
• "The cat cleaned itself after eating."
• "The door opened by itself in the wind."

• "They organized the event themselves without any help."
• "The children dressed themselves this morning."
• "The students found themselves in a difficult situation."

When the subject and object of the verb are the same person/thing:

• "She blamed herself for the accident." (She blamed her → same person)
• "We need to defend ourselves against these accusations."
• "The computer will shut itself down after inactivity."

• hurt, cut, burn, introduce, prepare, teach, blame, enjoy, behave, adapt

Used to emphasize the subject (can be removed without changing core meaning):

• "I myself saw the accident happen." (Emphasizing "I")
• "The president himself attended the ceremony."
• "You should speak to the manager herself about this issue."

• After the noun: "The doctor himself was surprised by the results."
• At the end: "She baked this cake herself."

In some contexts, reflexive pronouns can show mutual action:

• "They were talking to themselves." (Could mean they were talking to each other)

Modern English prefers "each other" for two people and "one another" for groups to avoid ambiguity.

• "She made a cup of tea for herself."
• "He built a treehouse by himself." (Meaning alone)
• "They were arguing among themselves."

• "No one is more critical of him than himself."
• "She's the same age as myself." (Formal/less common)

• "Help yourself!" (Take what you want)
• "Be yourself!" (Act naturally)
• "Make yourself at home." (Feel comfortable)
• "I need to collect myself." (Calm down)

• "She prides herself on her punctuality."
• "He applied himself to his studies."
• "They availed themselves of the opportunity."
• "You should comport yourself with dignity."

• ❌ "Please contact myself with questions." → ✅ "Please contact me with questions."
• ❌ "The package is for himself." → ✅ "The package is for him."

• ❌ "We did it ourself." → ✅ "We did it ourselves."
• ❌ "Theirselves" → ✅ "Themselves"

• ❌ "He feels bad for himself." (Unless emphasizing self-pity) → ✅ "He feels bad."

• ❌ "She prepared for the exam." (If meaning she prepared herself) → ✅ "She prepared herself for the exam."

Context	Reflexive	Personal
Object reflects subject	"She saw herself in the mirror."	"She saw her at the party." (Different person)
After prepositions	"He talked to himself."	"He talked to him." (Someone else)
Emphasis	"I myself witnessed it."	Not used for emphasis

1. "The children dressed _____ for school." (themselves)
2. "I need to remind _____ to buy milk." (myself)
3. "She made dinner all by _____." (herself)
4. "You should all be proud of _____." (yourselves)
5. "The machine turns _____ off automatically." (itself)

1. ❌ "John and myself will attend." → ✅ "John and I will attend."
2. ❌ "They did the work theirselves." → ✅ "They did the work themselves."
3. ❌ "The information is between you and myself." → ✅ "The information is between you and me."
4. ❌ "We need to prepare ourself." → ✅ "We need to prepare ourselves."

Is the reflexive pronoun used for reflection or emphasis?

1. "She hurt herself while skating." (reflexive)
2. "The CEO herself announced the news." (emphasis)
3. "We enjoyed ourselves at the beach." (reflexive)
4. "I myself don't agree with that policy." (emphasis)

• British English sometimes uses reflexive pronouns more extensively ("He was sitting by himself") where American might say "alone"
• Some dialects use "hisself" and "theirselves" though these are non-standard

• Old English had distinct reflexive forms that have mostly disappeared
• The "-self" forms became standardized in Early Modern English

• Many languages have reflexive verbs that don't exist in English
• Some languages use reflexive forms more extensively (e.g., Spanish "se")