Reflexive Pronouns
Referring to Oneself
I dressed myself.
Reflexive vs. Object Pronouns
| REFLEXIVE | OBJECT PRONOUN |
|---|---|
A reflexive pronoun (ending in -self or -selves) is used when the subject and the object are the same person. The reflexive pronoun points back to the subject of the sentence. Specific verbs use the reflexive pronoun. |
A personal pronoun takes the place of an object noun when the subject and object are different persons (or things). |
SUBJECT IS THE SAME PERSON
|
SUBJECT IS A DIFFERENT PERSON
|
I washed myself. I washed. |
He washed him. |
He dressed himself. |
He dressed him. his son |
She bathed herself. She bathed. |
She bathed them. |
You rinsed yourselves. |
You rinsed it. |
They dried themselves. |
They dried them. |
It prepared itself. |
It prepared us. |
Also see Get Passives.
Reflexive Pronouns
| SINGULAR | PLURAL |
|---|---|
I – myself |
We – ourselves |
You – yourself |
You (all) – yourselves |
She – herself / He – himself |
They – themselves |
It – itself / One - oneself |
|
Pronoun Reference
All or Part?
| ALL | PART |
|---|---|
A reflexive pronoun refers to all or the whole (subject) person. The specifics are not stated. |
A possessive pronoun and noun is used to refer to a specific part of the (subject) person. |
I hurt myself. |
I hurt my foot. |
He enjoyed himself at the party. |
He enjoyed his time at the party. |
We marketed ourselves well. |
We marketed our ideas well. |
She denied herself any luxuries. |
She denied her desires. |
They encouraged themselves. |
They encouraged their efforts. |
You washed yourself. |
You washed your face. (brushed your teeth, shampooed your hair, cut your nails, etc.) |
to deny oneself – to decide not to have something that you would like, especially for moral or religious reasons
Reflexive Pronouns
Verbs and Verb Phrasess
Reflexive Verbs and Verb Phrases
He believes in himself. |
He hurt himself. |
He takes care of himself. |
She blames herself. |
He introduced himself. |
She talks to herself. |
He cut himself. |
He excused himself. |
He teaches himself. |
She enjoys herself. |
They killed themselves. |
She tells herself not to worry. |
He feels sorry for himself. |
He pinched himself. |
He works for himself. |
She helps herself. |
They marketed themselves well. |
They wished themselves good luck. |
She denied herself any luxuries. |
He hates himself for forgetting his keys. |
She encouraged herself to keep working. |
He is pleased with himself. |
She is proud of herself. |
He is comfortable with himself. |
Reflexive Pronouns with Dative Verbs
He made himself a sandwich. (for himself) |
He called himself a taxicab. (for himself) |
He paid himself a compliment. (to himself) |
He caused himself a lot of trouble. (for himself) |
He cost himself a lot of money. |
He did himself a favor. (for himself) |
He wrote himself a note. (to himself) |
He sent himself an email. (to himself) |
He gave himself a break. (to himself) |
He bought himself a new car. (for himself) |
He allowed himself some extra time. |
He asked himself a question. |
Reflexive pronouns can be used with dative verbs if the subject (agent) is the same person as the object (receiver). Dative verbs take an indirect object: He gave himself (obj.) a break (indirect obj.); and may use a preposition: He made a sandwich for himself. / He sent a letter to himself.
Also see Indirect Objects (dative verbs)
(CaGEL 17 §3)
Myself
Emphasizing an Accomplishment
Self Emphasis
| LESS EMPHASIS | MORE EMPHASIS |
|---|---|
Stating an accomplishment without myself/ himself / herself gives less emphasis to the person or persons involved in the accomplishment. Other people may have helped. |
A reflexive pronoun can be used after the direct object to indicate accomplishment by one individual. |
 |
 |
I fixed it. |
I fixed it myself. (by myself) |
I chopped it. |
I chopped it myself. (by myself) |
I bought my own car. |
I bought it myself. (by myself) |
I learned to do it. |
I learned to do it myself. (by myself) |
I did it. |
I did it myself. (by myself) |
I am here. |
I am by myself. (expression – alone) |
Also see Get Passives
I Myself
An Unexpected Reflexive
| STANDARD PRONOUN | OVERRIDE REFLEXIVE |
|---|---|
Normally, we use a basic pronoun to take the place of a personal noun. However, some speakers use a reflexive pronoun where we would expect a basic pronoun to be. (basic: I, you, me) |
Override occurs when a speaker uses a reflexive pronoun in place of a pronoun, or along with the pronoun (repeating the personal pronoun). This is informal usage, and is done for emphasis. It usually involves 1st or 2nd person. |
My friend and I figured out a better way to do this. |
My friend and myself figured out an easier way to do this. |
I figured out the basic design. |
I myself figured out the basic design. |
A person such as you would have no trouble using it. |
A person such as yourself would have no trouble using it. |
My partner is much smarter than I am / me. |
My partner is much smarter than myself. |
All of these inventions are really just to help me. |
All of these inventions are really just to help myself. |
They gave an award to my partner and me. |
They gave an award to my partner as well as myself. |
He told everyone that he never expected the Academy of Science to give an award to someone like him. |
He told everyone that he never expected the Academy of Science to give an award to someone like himself. |
The photo of me that was taken at the awards ceremony is on my desk. |
The photo of myself that was taken at the awards ceremony is on my desk.
|
"Override reflexives are those that occur in place of a more usual non-reflexive in a restricted range of contexts where there is not a close structural relation between relexive and antecedent that we find with basic reflexives" There is a good deal of variation among speakers in usage. (See CaGEL 17 §3.1.4 for details)
Common Mistakes
Errors and Solutions
| ERROR | FIX |
|---|---|
A man needs to be comfortable with hisself before he can be comfortable with anyone else. Pop-q 02/14/2010 |
A man needs to be comfortable with himself before he can be comfortable with anyone else. (hisself is not a word.) |
They taught theirselves to use computers. |
They taught themselves to use computers. (theirselves is not a word.) |
After swimming, I dried me off. |
After swimming, I dried myself off. (Use myself, not me, if the subject and object are the same.) |
My wife and myself just moved to San Francisco. |
My wife and I just moved to San Francisco. (Use I, notmyself, as a subject pronoun.) |
Dr. Roberts gave my wife and myself a second chance. |
Dr. Roberts gave my wife and me a second chance. (Use me, not myself, if the subject is different from the object.) I gave my wife and myself a second chance. My wife gave herself and me a second chance.
|
Practice 1
Emphasizing "the self"
Decide on which reflexive pronoun goes with each subject.
- Select the response from the list that best completes the sentence.
- Compare your response to the answer by clicking the "check" button.
Practice 2
Select the Pronoun
Decide whether to use an object pronoun, a possessive pronoun or a reflexive pronoun.
- Select the word from each menu that best completes the sentence.
- Compare your response to the answer by clicking the "check" button.