Reflexive Pronouns: Myself, Yourself, Themselves — English Grammar Exercises — English Grammar Exercises
She cut herself. He taught himself. They say… 45 questions across 3 practice blocks on reflexive pronouns, emphasis, by myself, and impersonal you/they/one.
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Reflexive pronouns
myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves
Use a reflexive pronoun when the subject and the object are the same person or thing.
✅ She looked at herself in the mirror.
✅ I accidentally cut myself.
Emphatic use
A reflexive pronoun can also emphasise who did something.
✅ The president himself opened the hospital.
✅ Don't help me — I'll do it myself.
by + reflexive = alone
✅ I live by myself.
✅ They cooked dinner by themselves.
each other
For a reciprocal action — two or more people doing the same thing to each other:
✅ Tom and Anna looked at each other.
❌ Tom and Anna looked at themselves. (this means their own reflections)
Verbs that do NOT take a reflexive pronoun
Many everyday verbs are used without a reflexive: wash, shave, dress, relax, concentrate, feel, meet, hurry, hide.
❌ I wash myself every morning. → ✅ I wash every morning.
❌ It's hard to concentrate myself. → ✅ It's hard to concentrate.
But: some verbs do need one — enjoy yourself, help yourself, hurt yourself.
Impersonal you / one / they
- you = people in general: You can't smoke here.
- one = a more formal "people in general": One should always be polite.
- they = unspecified people: They are building a new road.
Common mistakes
| ❌ | ✅ |
|---|---|
| themselfs / theirselves | themselves |
| I relax myself at weekends. | I relax at weekends. |
| They looked at themselves. (mutually) | They looked at each other. |
| I live by my own. | I live by myself. |
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She looked at ___ in the mirror for a long time.
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herself
The subject (she) and object are the same person — use the reflexive 'herself'.
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I accidentally cut ___ while I was chopping onions.
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myself
The subject (I) and object are the same — use the reflexive 'myself'.
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He taught ___ to play the guitar from online videos.
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himself
The subject (he) and object are the same — use the reflexive 'himself'.
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The children drew funny pictures of ___.
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themselves
The reflexive form for 'they' is 'themselves' — 'theirselves' is not a word.
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Be careful with that knife — don't hurt ___!
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yourself
The reflexive form for one 'you' is 'yourself'.
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We organised the whole party ___, without any help.
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ourselves
The reflexive form for 'we' is 'ourselves' — 'ourself' is not standard.
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The cat was calmly cleaning ___ on the sofa.
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itself
The reflexive form for 'it' is 'itself'.
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The manager ___ apologised to the customer.
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himself
Here the reflexive emphasises that the manager personally did it — 'the manager himself'.
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Help ___ to some cake, everyone — there's plenty!
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yourselves
'Everyone' is addressed as plural here, so use 'yourselves'.
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Don't help me with this — I want to do it ___.
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myself
Here the reflexive emphasises doing it alone, with no help — 'do it myself'.
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Maria introduced ___ to all the new colleagues.
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herself
The subject (Maria) and object are the same — use 'herself'.
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The students ___ designed the poster for the event.
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themselves
Here the reflexive emphasises that the students did it personally.
Reflexive Pronouns in English: A Complete Grammar Reference
English reflexive pronouns — myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves — are used when the subject and object of a verb refer to the same person or thing. They also serve as emphatic intensifiers and combine with by to express independence. Analysis of the International Corpus of Learner English shows that reflexive pronoun errors rank among the top ten grammar mistakes at B1–B2 level. Two error types dominate: overuse (adding a reflexive to verbs that never take one in English, such as feel, relax, and concentrate) and form errors (inventing non-existent forms like hisself or theirselves). Research on Russian–English learners specifically identifies reflexive overuse as a significant transfer problem: Russian uses reflexive markers on dozens of verbs where English uses none. These 45 questions across 3 practice blocks address every aspect of the system — basic forms, verbs that reject the reflexive, emphatic use, by myself structures, and impersonal pronouns.
The Eight Reflexive Pronouns
Each subject pronoun has a fixed reflexive counterpart. The forms are built from object pronouns (me, you, him, her, it, us, them) plus -self or -selves — never from possessive pronouns.
you (one person) → yourself
he → himself (not hisself)
she → herself
it → itself
we → ourselves
you (group) → yourselves
they → themselves (not theirselves)
The two forms that learners most often invent — hisself and theirselves — do not exist in standard English. The base is always the object pronoun: himself, themselves.
Verbs That Do NOT Take a Reflexive in English
A major source of error is adding reflexive pronouns to English verbs that are translated by reflexive verbs in Russian or other languages. The following verbs are never reflexive in English:
She needs to relax. (not: relax herself)
He couldn't concentrate on his work. (not: concentrate himself)
We met at the café. (not: met ourselves)
She worried about the exam. (not: worried herself)
Contrast these with verbs that do require a reflexive: enjoy yourself, hurt yourself, help yourself, teach yourself, introduce yourself. The distinction must be learned verb by verb — there is no reliable rule based on meaning alone.
Emphatic Use: Stressing Personal Involvement
Reflexive pronouns can intensify a noun or pronoun to stress that someone acted personally, without a substitute or assistant. The emphatic pronoun goes either immediately after the noun phrase or at the end of the clause.
The Prime Minister herself signed the agreement. (after noun)
I painted the whole room myself. (end of clause — nobody helped)
Did you make this cake yourself? (end of clause — personally?)
The emphatic pronoun is always optional: removing it does not break the grammar. When it follows a noun, the noun is normally stressed in speech: 'The QUEEN herself attended.'
Common Mistakes
✗ The kids should be proud of theirselves. → ✓ The kids should be proud of themselves.
✗ I feel myself really tired today. → ✓ I feel really tired today. ('feel' takes no reflexive)
✗ She needs to relax herself this weekend. → ✓ She needs to relax this weekend.
✗ The boss hisself approved the plan. → ✓ The boss himself approved the plan.
✗ The door will close by it. → ✓ The door will close by itself.
✗ She completed the assignment by her. → ✓ She completed the assignment by herself.
✗ When they arrived, they introduced each other. → ✓ they introduced themselves. (each said their own name)
Frequently Asked Questions
What are reflexive pronouns in English and when do you use them?
English reflexive pronouns are myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, and themselves. You use them when the subject and object of a verb refer to the same person: 'She burned herself while cooking' (subject = she, object = she). They also appear in fixed verb phrases such as 'enjoy yourself', 'help yourself', and 'teach yourself'. A key point for Russian speakers: many verbs that are reflexive in Russian — feel, relax, concentrate, meet, worry — take no reflexive pronoun in English.
What is the difference between a reflexive and an emphatic use of myself/yourself?
In reflexive use, the pronoun is the object of the verb: 'She hurt herself.' Remove it and the sentence is incomplete or changes meaning. In emphatic use, the pronoun stresses that someone did something personally without help: 'The President himself opened the ceremony.' It can be removed without breaking the grammar — the emphasis is simply lost. Emphatic pronouns appear directly after the noun ('The chef himself served us') or at the end of a clause ('I painted the room myself').
What does 'by myself' mean, and how is it different from 'myself'?
'By + reflexive pronoun' means alone or without help: 'I prefer to study by myself', 'She completed the task by herself'. It is equivalent to 'on my own / on her own'. Without 'by', the reflexive is either a verb object ('I taught myself') or an emphatic intensifier ('I did it myself'). A common error is using an object pronoun after 'by': 'by her' instead of 'by herself' — 'by' always requires the reflexive form.
When do you use impersonal 'you', 'they', or 'one' in English?
Impersonal 'you' makes general statements that apply to anyone: 'You can see the mountains from here on a clear day.' It is the most natural choice in everyday speech. Impersonal 'they' refers to authorities or unnamed people in general: 'They say this restaurant is excellent'; 'They're building a new school nearby.' Formal 'one' appears in written or elevated registers: 'One should consider all the options.' In everyday English, 'one' often sounds unnatural — prefer 'you' for advice and 'they' for what people say or do.
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