Reflexive Pronouns
Reflexive pronouns
Reflexive pronouns are used when the subject and object of a sentence refer to the same person or thing.
The reflexive pronouns in English are myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, and themselves.
Some examples of reflexive pronouns in use are:
I gave myself a pat on the back.
You need to take care of yourself.
She looked at herself in the mirror.
He hurt himself playing basketball.
The cat licked itself clean.
We congratulated ourselves.
Reflexive pronouns are formed by adding the suffix -self or -selves to certain personal pronouns.
The rules for forming reflexive pronouns are:
For singular pronouns, add -self to the pronoun:
I – myself
You – yourself
He – himself
She – herself
It – itself
For plural pronouns, add -selves to the pronoun:
We – ourselves
You – yourselves
They – themselves
Some examples of reflexive pronouns in use are:
I am teaching myself to play the guitar.
You should give yourself some time to relax.
She looked at herself in the mirror.
We congratulated ourselves for a job well done.
They bought themselves new clothes for the party.
It’s important to note that reflexive pronouns are only used when the subject of the sentence and the object of the sentence are the same person or thing.
For example, I washed myself. (The subject I is also the object myself.)
She gave herself a pat on the back. (The subject she is also the object herself.)
He taught himself how to swim. (The subject he is also the object himself.)
However, if the subject and object are different, you should use a regular pronoun instead:
I washed him. (The subject I is washing the object him.)
She gave them a pat on the back (the subject she is patting the object them.)
He taught her how to swim (the subject he is teaching the object her.)
What is a Pronoun? The Functions of the English pronouns.