by Laura Jones
Updated on July 8, 2024
Reflexive pronouns and how to use them
Are you familiar with words like “myself” and “ourselves”? These are reflexive pronouns, which we use to reflect the action of the verb back to the subject of a sentence. The most common reflexive pronouns in English include myself, yourself, himself, herself, oneself, itself, ourselves, yourselves and themselves.
While you might know these pronouns, they can be tricky for people learning English. In fact, even native English speakers use them incorrectly sometimes!
Reflexive pronouns reflect the action of the verb back onto the subject. We use a reflexive pronoun when the subject and the object of a sentence refer to the same person or thing. Here are nine subject pronouns and their corresponding reflexive pronouns:
| Subject pronoun | Object pronoun |
| I | myself |
| you | yourself |
| he | himself |
| she | herself |
| one | oneself |
| it | itself |
| we | ourselves |
| you (plural) | yourselves |
| them | themselves |
We can use reflexive pronouns as the direct object in a sentence. For example:
Reflexive pronouns can also be used as the indirect object in a sentence. For example:
We often use reflexive pronouns after the preposition “by” to indicate that we did something alone or without help. For example:
“Oneself,” like the subject pronoun “one,” is not often used in spoken, informal English. It’s a formal, old-fashioned word. Generally, modern English speakers use “you” and “yourself” instead. Here are two examples of the same sentence, with the latter being the one you’ll hear more often in day-to-day speech:
Most grammar books list the same nine examples of reflexive pronouns we included above. However, many newer dictionary editions also list another reflexive pronoun: themself. This pronoun is not yet considered fully standard, but English speakers often use it to refer to a person whose gender is unknown. For example:
We can also use “themself” instead of “himself” or “herself” when the person does not identify with one gender. As such, you might see “themself” used in tandem with a person’s name or with the gender-neutral pronoun “they”:
For learners of English as a second language, one of the most common mistakes with reflexive pronouns is using them with verbs that describe things we usually do for ourselves. This type of mistake may happen when you try to translate something directly from your native language to English.
For example, in English, the verbs “wash,” “shave,” “concentrate” and “relax” are not usually followed by reflexive pronouns:
In Spanish, all of these verbs are generally reflexive, so it’s no wonder people who are learning English make such mistakes.
For native speakers, the most common mistake with reflexive pronouns is using them when a subject or object pronoun should be used instead. This often happens when we have a compound subject or object. For example:
To understand what’s wrong with these examples, simply remove one part of the compound subject or object and see if it still makes sense:
In the above examples, something doesn’t sound quite right. Here are the original sentences in their correct form:
As discussed earlier, reflexive pronouns reflect the action of the verb back onto the subject. On the other hand, intensive pronouns are used to emphasize a noun or pronoun within the same sentence:
We could remove the intensive pronoun in both sentences without changing the meaning.
Hopefully, you now feel better equipped to use words like “myself” and “themselves” to express yourself clearly in English. But it can still be challenging. Reflexive pronouns in English might be used less often than in your first language, and they shouldn’t replace subject or object pronouns unnecessarily. In any case, they are essential tools for reflecting back onto a subject, so they’re worth practicing until you feel more comfortable using them in everyday conversation.
