Mixed Review — Reflexive, Emphatic, By Myself, Each Other — English Grammar Exercises
She cut herself. He taught himself. They say… 60 exercises on reflexive pronouns, emphasis, by myself, and impersonal you/they/one.
Mixed Review: Reflexive Pronouns in Context
The most challenging reflexive pronoun exercises require learners to distinguish between uses that superficially look similar: themselves (each person acts on themselves) vs each other (A acts on B and B acts on A); reflexive object ('She introduced herself') vs mutual action ('They introduced each other'). Corpus research shows that themselves/each other confusion is the single most frequent advanced reflexive error, occurring in roughly 15% of relevant sentences at B2 level. A secondary error cluster involves invariable forms: 'each others' (no apostrophe, no -s) is always wrong — the correct phrase is 'each other' (no possessive -s) or 'each other's' (with apostrophe for the possessive).
Themselves vs Each Other
They looked at each other. (A looked at B; B looked at A)
When the new employees arrived, they introduced themselves. (each said their own name)
The two suspects blamed each other for the crime. (A blamed B; B blamed A)
Each Other's — The Possessive
They congratulated each other on the victory. ✓ (no apostrophe — not possessive)
Common Mistakes
✗ They helped each others with the homework. → ✓ each other. (never 'each others')
✗ They enjoyed theirselves. → ✓ enjoyed themselves.
✗ They congratulated theirselves and shook each others hands. → ✓ themselves … each other's hands.
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.