EnglishPronouns, Verbs, Sentence Structure Reflexive pronounsNo definition set for pronounsLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. 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:
| | I burned myself when I was cooking. |
| | Kelly, don’t do that, you are going to hurt yourself! |
| | You and Jack should control yourselves in class. |
| | The air conditioner turns itself off. |
| | Jessica was preparing herself for the championship. |
| | Oliver introduced himself. |
| | We don’t want someone to hurt themself / themselves*. (see below for more details) |
| | The boys called themselves “Wolf Squad.” |
| | We protect ourselves against viruses by wearing masks. |
| | 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.
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.
You may recall that sometimes they can be singular instead of plural. We use singular they if it would not be correct to use he or she.
Someone left their bag on the train.
English speakers do not all agree about the correct reflexive pronoun for singular they! Some people will use themselves (following the pattern of plural they ), and other people use themself (because it is singular, following the pattern set by you (sg.) and yourself).
When do we need to use singular themselves or themself? Look at these sentences:
A new employee introduced themselves / themself.
Each student painted their cup themselves / themself.
I heard a child talking to themselves / themself outside.
English speakers sometimes try to avoid using singular themselves / themself, because they are not sure which is correct!
When to use reflexive pronouns?
Basically, you need reflexive pronouns in two situations:
When the subject and the object are the same
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:
subjectobject
→ Lora is doing the action of buying, a dress is not doing the action.
But, if Lora is both the subject and an object, we use a reflexive pronoun:
subjectobject
→ Lora = herself: She is doing the action and she is receiving the action.
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)
You can use a reflexive pronoun anywhere in the sentence where you can use an English object pronoun (that is, me, you, him, her, it, them, us), as long as the subject and the object are the same.
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:
I cut vegetables for salad. → I cut them for salad.
→ Here we use an object pronoun, because the subject and the object are not the same.
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:
I cut my finger. → I cut myself.
→ Here we use a reflexive pronoun because the subject and the object are the same individual!
When the subject and the object are the same, you always need to use a reflexive pronoun!
subject pronounobject pronounreflexive pronoun
You can use reflexive pronouns with any transitive verb, that is, with verbs that can have a direct object, for example:
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:
Reflexive pronouns as objects of prepositions
Reflexive pronouns may also be used in prepositional phrases (prepositionNo definition set for prepositionLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. + noun) when the subject and the object of the preposition are the same. For example:
prepositionreflexive pronoun
Successful businessmen believe in themselves.
There is nobody else in the room — I think she is talking to herself.
This cake turns out perfect when I make it for myself, but not when I make it for others.
He opened the present and smiled to himself.
Journalists usually do not make reports about themselves.
You can often use an object pronoun instead of a reflexive pronoun after prepositions of place like inside, next to, behind, with, on, near, under, in, in front of, beside, above, over, or around. For example:
prepositionobject pronoun
She put her phone next to her on the table.
I looked behind me and saw nobody.
Usually a reflexive pronoun will work also:
prepositionreflexive pronoun
She put her phone next to herself on the table.
I looked behind myself and saw nobody.
But sometimes you need to choose one or the other. For example:
When with means “accompanying,” use the object pronoun:
object pronoun
✅ The children brought a puppy with them.
→ The puppy accompanied the children: ❌ themselves
With perception verbs that do not involve touch (like hear, see, smell, watch, or listen to) or with linking verbs (like be, seem, or have), use the object pronoun:
object pronounreflexive pronoun
✅ She listened to the radio behind her.
❌ She listened to the radio behind herself.
✅ I have food in me.
❌ I have food in myself.
If the above two rules don’t apply, and the location is part of the subject’s body, use a reflexive pronoun:
reflexive pronounobject pronoun
✅ Lenny drew pictures on himself.
→ Lenny is the location of the pictures.
❌ Lenny drew pictures on him.
→ This is only correct if Lenny is drawing on someone else.
The good news is that even native speakers often don’t know if an object pronoun or a reflexive pronoun is correct. So if you feel uncertain, you are not alone!
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:
They said... that she bought a dress for herself.
→ The sentence has 2 clauses, but she and herself share a verb: bought.
You cannot use a reflexive pronoun if the subject and the object are in different clauses:
❌ She said... that her parents bought a dress for herself.
→ Even though she and herself are in the same sentence, they cannot refer to the same person, because sheand herself do not share a verb — they are in different clauses!
If you want to refer to the subject of an earlier clause, use an object pronoun instead.
✅ She said... that her parents bought a dress for her.
→ We use an object pronoun, her, because she and her do not share a verb!
This means that when you have a sentence with more than one clause (a complex sentence), you need to be extra careful which pronoun you use, reflexive or object, as the meaning can change. Compare:
Joe said... that Mick taught himself how to swim.
→ Who taught Mick how to swim? Mick! He taught himself. Mick and himself share a verb, so we use the reflexive pronoun.
Joe said... that Mick taught him how to swim.
→ Who taught Joe how to swim? Mick! He taught him. Joe and him do not share a verb, so we use the object pronoun.
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.
Reflexive pronouns used for emphasis can be omitted, and the sentence will still make sense and be grammatically correct!
The position of a reflexive pronoun in a sentence is very important, as it often changes the meaning of it. Compare:
Jack paid himself a bonus. = Jack paid a bonus to himself.
→ Jack paid Jack a bonus, so Jack got some money.
Jack paid the bonus himself. = Jack himself paid the bonus.
→ Jack, not someone else, paid the bonus to somebody else, so somebody got money from Jack.
So remember, if the reflexive pronoun comes after the subject or after the direct object, it is always for emphasis!
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!
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