You reflexive pronouns in english (reflexive pronouns) are terms used when an action performed by the subject focuses on himself.
Generally, these words appear after the verb, always agreeing with the subject of the sentence.
They are built with the endings “-self”, in the singular, and “-selves”, in the plural.
Check out a table with the reflexive pronouns below:
| Reflexive Pronouns | Translation | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| myself | myself, me | I looked at myself in the mirror. (I looked in the mirror) |
| Yourself | to you, yourself (a), yourself, yourself | How did you cut yourself? (How did you cut yourself?) |
| Himself | himself, himself, himself | He doesn't take care of himself. (He doesn't take care of himself.) |
| herself | to itself, to itself, to itself | She hurt herself. (she got hurt) |
| itself | yourself (a), yourself | The cat is licking itself. (The cat is licking itself.) |
| Ourselves | to ourselves (as), us | We amused ourselves. (We have fun) |
| Yourselves | to you, to yourselves (as), to you, to yourself | You should write notes for yourselves. (You should write notes for yourselves.) |
| Themselves | to themselves, to themselves, to themselves, | They are proud of themselves. (They are proud of themselves.) |
Note: each reflexive pronoun has a corresponding personal pronoun:
| Personal Pronouns | Reflexive Pronouns |
|---|---|
| I | myself |
| you | yourself |
| he | himself |
| her | herself |
| It | itself |
| we | ourselves |
| you | Yourselves |
| they | themselves |
Classification
Reflexive pronouns can perform three types of functions in a sentence:
reflective function
It occurs when the action of the verb falls on the subject itself.
The pronoun agrees with the subject of the sentence and is used after it.
Example:
the boy cut himself with a knife. (The boy cut himself with a knife.)
emphatic function
In the emphatic function, the reflexive pronoun is used to emphasize the person performing the action.
In this case, the pronoun agrees with the subject being used after him or after the object in the sentence.
Example:
Amanda wrote the letter herself. (Amanda wrote the letter herself.)
idiomatic function
In the idiomatic function, the pronoun is preceded by the preposition by.
In this case, the subject performs the action without the help or company of another person, that is, he performs the action alone.
Example:
did you go to school by yourself? (Did you go to school alone?)
Reciprocal reflexive pronouns
The reciprocal reflexive pronouns (reciprocal pronouns) are terms used to refer to more people or things.
each other
O each other is used when the subject of the sentence refers to two people or things. Indicates reciprocity.
Example:
Natalie and John kissed each other. (Natalie and John kissed.)
one another
O one another it is used when the subject of the sentence refers to more than two people or things and also indicates reciprocity.
Example:
they kissed one another. (They kissed each other.)
In either case, the verb of the sentence falls on these people or things.
Video (Video)
Watch the video below for a summary of the use of reflexive pronouns.
Exercises
1. (UFMA) Complete with the right pronoun: Behave ________ !
a) yourself
b) himself
c) herself
d) myself
alternative a) yourself
"Behave" is the imperative inflection of the verb "to behave".
Therefore, the phrase must indicate a communication between two people, where one directly gives instruction to the other.
For that reason, the correct answer is to a) yourself.
2. (Unesp) Complete the sentence correctly: I can’t wash ________ if I don’t have any water.
a) himself
b) myself
c) me
d) myselves
e) herself
Alternative b) myself
Each reflexive pronoun has a corresponding personal pronoun.
In the sentence above, the personal pronoun is "I" (I). Thus, the correct alternative is "myself" as this is the reflexive pronoun that corresponds to "I".
"Himself" corresponds to the personal pronoun "he".
"Myselves" does not exist.
"Herself" corresponds to the personal pronoun "she".
"Me" used after the verb does not indicate reflective action.
3. (UFMA) Complete the sentences using the right alternative: Educators _________ are not sure about the effects television may have on children.
a) them
b) yourselves
c) ourselves
d) himself
e) themselves
Alternative e: themselves
In the indicated sentence, the relative pronoun to be used to complete the sentence must be in the plural so that the agreement with the word "educators" is correct.
Only alternatives b), c) and e) are inflected in the plural.
"Yourselves" corresponds to the personal pronoun "you".
"Ourselves" corresponds to the personal pronoun "our".
"Themselves" corresponds to the personal pronoun "they".
As the pronoun to be inserted in the sentence refers to the word "educators", the corresponding personal pronoun is "they".
Therefore, the correct alternative is "themselves".
The meaning of the filled-in sentence is: Educators themselves are unsure about the effects that television can have on children.
