Reflexive and reciprocal pronouns

Image  He's cut himself shaving.

 

Reflexive pronouns are used instead of object pronouns when the subject and object are the same.

Gilles looked at his son. = Gilles looked at him.

Gilles looked at himself in the mirror.  = Gilles looked at Gilles.

 

There are four main uses:

Use

Examples

 

When the subject and the object are the same.

 

 

He watched himself on TV.

 

When the subject and the object of a preposition are the same.

 

 

She talks to herself a lot.

 

To emphasise the subject.

 

 

They ate all the food themselves - there was none left when the guests arrived.

 

 

With 'by' to say that something is done without assistance from others.

 

 

He can do it by himself now - he doesn't need any help.


Object pronoun

Singular reflexive pronoun

Plural reflexive pronoun

me

myself

 

you

yourself

yourselves

him

himself

 

her

herself

 

it

itself

 

us

 

ourselves

them

 

themselves

 

Image      Hello, I'd like to introduce myself.  My name's Charles.

Image     So, can you finish this by yourself or shall I help?

Image    She made herself a cup of tea.

Image   He'll be so proud of himself if he gets the job.

Image   We always told ourselves we'd move to the seaside when we retired - and we did!

Image   Babies can't feed themselves.


It is not uncommon to see or hear reflexive pronouns misused by native speakers of English.

These are typical examples which should be avoided:

John and myself are looking forward to meeting you. Image

John and I are looking forward to meeting you. Image

Please send the document to Paul or myself.  Image

Please send the document to Paul or me.  Image

 

If you are not sure, then take out the other people from the sentence and you will see that we would not say:

Myself is looking forward to meeting you.  Image

Please send the document to myself.   Image 

Common imperative expressions

Come in. It's lovely to see you. Do make yourselves at home.

Can I try one of those cakes?  Yes, of course - help yourself.

 

Bye. Have a good time at the party - enjoy yourselves.

 

Mind yourself!    Just behave yourselves, will you!

 

By oneself [See one.]

As well as the meaning mentioned above, this can also mean 'alone'.

Her children have left home so she lives by herself now.

He hates working by himself and is much happier in a team.


We use 'each other' when each member of a pair or group does something to or for the other(s).

Consider these two contrasting examples:

Image  They looked at themselves in the mirror.  =  The man looked at himself and the boy looked at himself.

Image  They looked at each other= He looked at her and she looked at him.

 

More examples

Image   They love each other

Image  They ask each other questions about the project at every meeting.

Image They're meeting each other for the first time.                         

 

Note that 'one another' has the same meaning as 'each other'. They are interchangeable but 'each other' is more likely to be used for just two people and 'one another' for groups or for people generally.

Image   They always bow to each other when they meet. 

Image   All the delegates greeted one another on arrival. 

Image  In our team, we work well with each other. 

Image  We should all learn to respect one another.