Reflexive Pronouns: How well do you remember?

Below is a dialogue between Amy and Karen who are studying abroad together. They are staying at the hostel and discussing what to eat for lunch.

Reading Aloud​

Reflexive pronouns are words ending in -self or -selves

​that are used when

the subject and the object

of a sentence are the same.

Reflexive Pronouns

Reflexive Pronoun

​

myself​

Subject Pronoun

​

I​

Reflexive Pronoun

​

himself

Subject Pronoun

​

He​

Reflexive Pronoun

​

herself

Subject Pronoun

​

She​

Situation 1:

Daisy decided to reward Mary with a dinner out.

​

​Mary is the object of reward.

Situation 2:

Daisy decided to reward herself with a dinner out.

​

Daisy, the subject, is the object of reward.

Situation 1:

Janice pours a cup of tea for me every morning.

​​

Situation 2:

Janice pours a cup of tea for herself every morning.

​

​

​​It is worth noting that referring twice to the same noun as subject and object sounds just a bit creepy.

Situation 1:

He closed the store on Saturday himself. (He didn’t have an employee to do it)

​​

Situation 2:

I made my supper myself. (No one else did it for me)

​

​

It is used to emphasize the subject or antecedent in a sentence, often in the sense of “and not someone else.”