Reflexive Pronouns

Form

The reflexive pronouns are myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves and themselves.

The singular forms end in -self and the plural forms in -selves, so you say yourself to one person and yourselves to a group (Did you children behave yourselves?). Some are built on the possessive (myself, yourself, ourselves) and some on the object pronoun (himself, herself, itself, themselves), which is why hisself and theirselves are not English words. A reflexive pronoun works as an object, or as an add-on for emphasis; it can never be the subject of a clause, so the sentence starts with I, not myself.

When to Use It

1. 1

   Use a reflexive pronoun when the subject and the object are the same person or thing

   He cut himself while shaving.

2. 2

   Use one for emphasis, right after the subject or at the end of the clause, to stress that the person did it personally

   My grandfather built this table himself.

3. 3

   Use one after by to mean alone, or without help

   He lives by himself in a small apartment.

4. 4

   Use the form a fixed expression demands — enjoy yourself, help yourself, behave yourself, familiarize yourself with —

   We enjoyed ourselves at the party.

5. 5

   After a preposition of place, the ordinary object pronoun is the usual choice even when it points back at the subject

   She glanced behind her before unlocking the door.

Common Mistakes

• Using myself where me belongs: write please contact Sarah or me, not Sarah or myself — myself only works when I is the subject of the same clause.
• Using myself as a subject: write My sister and I cleaned the apartment, not My sister and myself cleaned the apartment.
• Inventing forms: write himself and themselves, not hisself or theirselves.
• Using the singular for a group: write “Help yourselves to more cake” to several people, and keep “Help yourself” for one.
• Dropping the reflexive out of a fixed expression: write We enjoyed ourselves at the party, not We enjoyed at the party — enjoy needs an object.