Reflexive pronouns (myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves) are used when the subject and object of a verb refer to the same person. They are also used for emphasis. Confusing them with personal pronouns is a common intermediate-level mistake.
Use a reflexive pronoun when the subject performs an action on itself. "She hurt herself." "They blame themselves." The reflexive pronoun must match the subject: I → myself, you → yourself, he → himself, she → herself, it → itself, we → ourselves, you (plural) → yourselves, they → themselves.
Practice
He cut ___ while shaving this morning.
The children madebreakfast this morning without any help.
Put the words in the correct order:
Reflexive pronouns can also be used for emphasis, meaning "without help" or "in person". "I made this cake myself." (= nobody helped me) "The CEO himself attended the meeting." (= it was impressive that he came). When used for emphasis, the reflexive pronoun can be removed without changing the basic meaning of the sentence.
Practice
"The president ___ signed the document." — Which reflexive pronoun fits?
I baked this birthday cake— I didn't buy it from a shop.
Put the words in the correct order:
Do not use reflexive pronouns where a personal pronoun is correct. Saying "Please give it to John and myself" instead of "… to John and me" is a hypercorrection — a mistake caused by trying too hard to sound formal. Also, reflexive pronouns cannot be the subject of a sentence: "Myself went to the shop" is wrong.
Practice
If you have any questions, please contact Sarah or ___.
My sister andcleaned the entire flat before the guests arrived.
Choose the correct word order using the right pronoun: