Reflexive Pronouns

1. as a direct object when the object is the same as the subject of the verb.

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​Sometimes I cannot understand myself.

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2. as an indirect object when the indirect object is the same as the subject of the verb:

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We’ve brought ourselves something to eat.

3. as an object of a preposition when the object is the same as the subject of the verb:

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He was feeling very sorry for himself.

• At the end of the clause when we are using it intensively for emphasis:

• She mended the car herself.

• To emphasise the person or thing we are referring to:

• Sir Paul McCartney himself sang the final song.

​- to show that someone did something without any help:

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The children got dressed by themselves.

I prepared the whole meal by myself.

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​- to show that someone was alone:

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He lived by himself in an enormous house.

She walked home by herself.

We can use a reflexive pronoun as direct object with most transitive verbs, but these are the most common: