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  Personal Pronouns - Reflexive Pronouns Definition

• Reflexive pronouns are used when someone or something is both the subject and the object
  of the same verb—that is, both that which is performing the action of the verb and that which is receiving the action. When this happens, the reflexive verb is used as the object of the verb to represent the person or thing.
  For example, in the sentence “I heard you speaking,” “I” is the subject, and “you” is the object—they are not the same person, so a reflexive noun is not used.
  Likewise, “I’ll be sure to thank himself” is not correct: “him” should be the object of “thank,” while “I” is the subject.
  But in the sentence “I heard myself speaking,” the speaker (“I”) is both the subject of the verb “heard” and its object (what was heard), and thus is represented by the reflexive noun “myself.”
  The reflexive pronouns are myself, ourselves, yourself, yourselves, herself, himself, itself, themselves, and oneself. The last of these is formed from the gender-neutral indefinite pronoun one (which also has the possessive form one’s); however, the pronoun one is not a personal pronoun.
  Here are some more examples:
• I wish you could hear yourselves right now!
• She admitted to herself that she was wrong.
• The vole hides itself beneath the ground for safety.
• The players have really outdone themselves today!
• One should strive to better oneself every day.
  On a final note, a reflexive pronoun can never be used as the subject of a verb—it can only act as the object, and only when the person or thing it represents is already being used as the subject.
  For example, “myself taught me to read” is very clearly wrong, because myself should be used as the object of “taught,” while the personal pronoun I should be used as the subject. “John and myself will be in attendance” is also incorrect because the speaker (and John) is the subject of the verb “be,” without an object—it should read “John and I will be in attendance.”
  For more information on the subjective and objective cases, please see the chapter section on grammatical case in personal pronouns.

• Quiz

• 1.   Which of the following sentences uses reflexive pronouns correctly?

  a)   “I couldn’t believe the pictures of myself after the party!”

  
  

  b)   “And how is himself these days?”

  c)   “I really haven’t felt like myself lately.”

  d)   “Please send the relevant information to Bob, Jane, and myself.”

  
  

  2.   Which of the following sentences uses a reflexive pronoun incorrectly?

  a)   “Myself and a few others are going to see a movie later.”

  b)   “I can see myself taking up golf when I retire.”

  c)   “Tom saw himself in the reflection of the water.”

  d)   “Students who have not done the work themselves will be penalized.”

  
  

  3.   Which is the correct singular first-person reflexive pronoun?

  a)   Ourselves

  b)   Yourself

  c)   Themselves

  d)   Myself

  
  

  4.   When do you use a reflexive pronoun?

  a)   When a personal pronoun is the object of a preposition.

  b)   When a person or thing is the subject and the object of the same verb.

  c)   When a person or thing is the subject of one verb and the object of another verb in the same sentence.

  d)   When a personal pronoun and another noun are both subjects of a verb.