English reflexive pronouns

Reflexive pronouns definition

Reflexive pronouns are most widely used when the object and the subject of a sentence are the same. They are also used to refer back to the subject and put an emphasis on what or who is being referred to in the expression or who is performing the action.

Formulation: Reflexive pronouns are formed by adding the ending -self to the singular form pronouns and -selves for the plural forms. The primary stem varies from being subject and object pronoun, therefore, they need to be learned by heart from the table below to avoid any mistakes.

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Uduak N.

Franco R.

Lucy S.

Nontokozo H.

Roselin M.

Leah F.

Nicola G.

André E.

Fadhila H.

Monika K.

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Reflexive pronouns list

Warning: Be mindful as with reflexive pronouns the "You" form differs for singular and plural form. 

English reflexive pronouns list: myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves

Reflexive pronouns and transitive verbs

Reflexive pronouns and transitive verbs are often used together. The most commonly applied ones with reflexive pronouns are: blame, cut, enjoy, help, hurt, dry, introduce, prepare, teach.

Transitive verbs examples:

• He blames himself for what happened.
• I taught myself how to play guitar.
• She cut herself while moving the boxes.
• He introduced it himself.

Reflexive pronouns and "By"

"By" accompanied by a reflexive pronoun is used to emphasize that an action has already been carried out and to indicate that the action is done by the person/s alone rather than by anyone else.

Examples:

• I live by myself again.
• He is climbing by himself.
• She cooked the paella herself.
• They built this by themselves.