eng6-6.2· Əlavə: proqramdan kənar qrammatika· ~13 min

Reflexive pronouns

myself, yourself, himself...

A reflexive pronoun refers back to the subject of the sentence — the person or thing doing the action. We use reflexive pronouns when the subject and the object are the same person or thing. The eight reflexive pronouns are: myself (I), yourself (you, singular), himself (he), herself (she), itself (it), ourselves (we), yourselves (you, plural), and themselves (they). The key rule is that the reflexive must match the subject: if the subject is 'she', you must use 'herself', not 'himself' or 'yourself'. Reflexive pronouns can also appear after 'by' to mean 'alone' or 'without help': 'She cooked by herself' means she cooked without anyone helping her. We do NOT use reflexive pronouns simply to emphasise 'me' instead of an object pronoun — 'She called me' is correct, not 'She called myself'. For example: Tom fell off his bike and hurt himself — 'himself' refers back to Tom, the subject.

Key terms

reflexive pronoun — A pronoun that refers back to the subject of the sentence (e.g. myself, yourself, himself).
subject — The person or thing that does the action in a sentence (e.g. 'she' in 'She cut herself').
object — The person or thing that receives the action (e.g. 'herself' in 'She cut herself').
by + reflexive — A phrase meaning 'alone' or 'without help' (e.g. 'He did it by himself').
object pronoun — A pronoun used as the object when the subject and object are DIFFERENT people (me, you, him, her, us, them).
The 8 Reflexive Pronouns
Subject pronounReflexive pronounExample sentence
ImyselfI made a sandwich for myself.
you (one person)yourselfBe careful! You could hurt yourself.
hehimselfHe hurt himself when he fell.
sheherselfShe looked at herself in the mirror.
ititselfThe cat washed itself.
weourselvesWe cooked the meal ourselves.
you (two or more)yourselvesYou and your brother can do it yourselves.
theythemselvesThe children enjoyed themselves at the park.

The reflexive pronoun must always match the subject pronoun.

When to Use a Reflexive vs. an Object Pronoun
SituationUseExample
Subject and object are the SAME personreflexive pronounShe helped herself. (she = herself)
Subject and object are DIFFERENT peopleobject pronoun (me/him/her/us/them)She helped me. (she ≠ me)
Alone / without helpby + reflexiveHe fixed it by himself.
Reflexive as subject (WRONG)never!Myself went — WRONG. Say: I went.

Use a reflexive pronoun ONLY when the subject and object refer to the same person or thing.

Common Reflexive Pronoun Errors
Wrong sentenceWhy it is wrongCorrect sentence
She called myself.Subject (she) and object (myself) are different people.She called me.
I hurt yourself.'yourself' belongs to 'you', not 'I'.I hurt myself.
He looked at herself.'herself' belongs to 'she', not 'he'.He looked at himself.
Myself went to school.A reflexive pronoun cannot be the subject.I went to school.
We painted the house by ourself.'ourself' is not a real English word.We painted the house by ourselves.

These are the most common mistakes learners make with reflexive pronouns.

✎Choosing the right reflexive pronoun (step by step)
  1. 1Step 1: Find the subject: Read the sentence and find who is doing the action. For example: 'Maria dressed ___ for school.' → The subject is 'Maria' (she).
  2. 2Step 2: Match the reflexive to the subject: she → herself. So the answer is 'herself'.
  3. 3Step 3: Check — are the subject and object the same person?: Yes: Maria dressed Maria. Subject = object = same person. So a reflexive pronoun is correct here.
  4. 4Result: 'Maria dressed herself for school.' ✓
✎Using 'by + reflexive' to mean alone
  1. 1Situation: Someone asks: 'Did someone help you bake the cake?' You want to say you did it alone.
  2. 2Step 1: Find the subject: The speaker is 'I'.
  3. 3Step 2: Choose by + reflexive for 'I': I → myself → by myself.
  4. 4Result: 'No, I baked it by myself.' ✓ (= without anyone's help)
🚫Common mistake

Do NOT use 'myself' when the subject and object are different people. 'My friend called myself' is WRONG — say 'My friend called me'. Use 'myself' only when you (I) are both the subject AND the object.

🚫Common mistake

Do NOT mix up male and female reflexives. 'Maria dressed himself' is WRONG because Maria is a girl (she). Always use 'herself' for she/her, and 'himself' for he/him.

⚠️Caution

'Ourself' is not a real English word. The correct plural form for 'we' is always 'ourselves'.

💡Note

'Yourself' is for one person (you, singular). When you speak to two or more people, use 'yourselves'. For example: 'You can do it yourselves' (talking to a group).

Rules

  1. 1Use a reflexive pronoun when the subject and object of the sentence are the same person or thing (She cut herself).
  2. 2Match the reflexive to the subject: I→myself, you (sg)→yourself, he→himself, she→herself, it→itself, we→ourselves, you (pl)→yourselves, they→themselves.
  3. 3By + reflexive pronoun means 'alone' or 'without help' (He did his homework by himself).
  4. 4Do NOT use a reflexive pronoun when the subject and object are different people (She helped me, NOT She helped myself).
  5. 5Reflexive pronouns are never used as the subject of a verb (Myself went — WRONG; I went — CORRECT).

Practice

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