REFLEXIVE PRONOUNS Singular myself yourself himself herself itself

REFLEXIVE PRONOUNS Singular: myself; yourself; himself; herself; itself Plural: ourselves; yourselves; themselves The most common reflexive verbs in English are: cut, blame, enjoy, hurt, introduce, kill, prepare, teach, amuse, dry, satisfy, help e. g. She enjoyed herself while on holiday. *What you need to know about reflexive pronouns is that they can only be used with transitive verbs. We use reflexive pronouns when the subject and the object of the verb refer to the same person or thing. WHEN SHOULD WE USE REFLEXIVE PRONOUNS? • To emphasize that another person did not do the action. e. g. He painted the house himself. (verb + object + reflexive pronoun) • To emphasize that we do something for ourselves. e. g. He taught himself French. (verb + reflexive pronoun + object)

REFLEXIVE PRONOUNS • We can use “by” + a reflexive pronoun to express alone and not with another person. e. g. She went to the party by herself. • We can use reflexive pronouns after other prepositions “for”, “to”, etc. but not after prepositions of place. We cannot use reflexive pronouns after “with” when it means “accompanied by” either. e. g. They had to cook for themselves. e. g. They had a suitcase beside him. e. g. She had a few friends with her.

REFLEXIVE PRONOUNS • We use reflexive pronouns intensively to emphasise the person or thing we are referring to: e. g. Kendal itself is quite a small town. especially if we are talking about someone very famous: e. g. Sir Paul Mc. Cartney himself sang the final song. • Reflexive pronouns with some expresions help yourself (sírvete tú mismo) make yourself at home (siéntete como en casa) behave yourself (compórtate)

REFLEXIVE PRONOUNS NOTE: We do not use a reflexive pronoun after verbs which describe everyday things/actions people usually do for themselves: e. g. He washed in cold water. e. g. He always shaved before going out in the evening. e. g. Michael dressed and got ready for the party. We only use reflexives with these verbs for emphasis: He dressed himself in spite of his injuries. She’s old enough to wash herself. NOTE: adapt, complain, concentrate, get up, hide, lie down, meet, move, relax, remember, shave, shower, sit down. -