Reflexive Pronouns – myself, yourself

Exercises

Explanation

Examples:

• I burned myself while ironing.

• You should always protect yourself in dangerous situations.

• They reminded themselves to stay focused.

• We prepared ourselves for the long journey.

1. Reflexive Pronouns – Forms

2. When Do We Use Reflexive Pronouns?

A. When the subject and object refer to the same person

We use reflexive pronouns when someone performs an action on themselves.

• She taught herself Italian during the summer.

• He injured himself while lifting heavy boxes.

• The robot shut itself down after completing the task.

B. To add emphasis (Intensive Pronouns)

Reflexive pronouns are also used to emphasize that someone did something independently or without support.

• The director himself attended the meeting.

• Sofia solved the problem herself.

• We designed the website ourselves.

These pronouns can appear directly after the noun or at the end of the sentence.

3. Important Notes

A. Some verbs do NOT use reflexive pronouns in English

In English, a number of everyday actions are understood as being done to oneself, so we do not use reflexive pronouns with them.

Common examples include: wash, shave, dress, feel, rest, concentrate

Examples:

• He shaved before work. (Not: “shaved himself”)

• She dressed quickly and left.

• I feel much better today.

• We tried to concentrate during the lecture.

B. Reflexive pronouns after as, like, except

Sometimes we use reflexive pronouns after certain prepositions for emphasis or polite reference.

• The training is especially useful for beginners like yourselves.

• Everyone joined the discussion except myself.

• She acted as if she were speaking to someone other than herself.

4. Reflexive Pronouns with Prepositions

Reflexive pronouns often appear after prepositions such as by, for, or to.

• I repaired the bicycle by myself. (= with no help)

• She saved some time for herself.

• The door closed by itself. (= without anyone touching it)

Here are more sentences that demonstrate reflexive pronouns in different contexts:

• Please behave yourselves during the performance.

• He pushed himself too hard during training.

• I’ll prepare the documents myself.

• The lights turned on by themselves.

• We encouraged ourselves to keep trying despite the challenge.