Emphatic or Reflexive Pronouns (Chart, 80+ Examples & List)

Emphatic or Reflexive Pronouns

Reflexive pronouns direct their action back to the subject. A pronoun that is formed by adding ‘self’ or ‘selves’ to a personal pronoun is called a ‘Reflexive Pronoun’ or ‘Emphatic Pronoun’. Reflexive and emphatic pronouns have the same forms.

It refers to the noun or pronoun which is the subject. It functions as the object of a sentence. It comes after the verb and may also come at the end of the sentence.

Examples

1. He punished himself for his mistake.
2. They promoted themselves to work hard.
3. I myself saw him stealing my pen.
4. They whitewashed the house themselves.
5. You can do it yourself.
6. They themselves decided to swim in the river.

Examples of Reflexive Pronouns

Examples	Explanation
You should blame yourself for the delay.	In this sentence, the reflexive pronoun ‘yourself’ is the object of the verb ‘blame’ and the subject and the object are the same.
I shall do it myself.	In this sentence, ‘myself’ is used to emphasize that ‘I’ did something without any help from others.
I, myself, have accepted his challenge.	In this sentence, ‘myself’ emphasizes the subject ‘I’

Reflexive Pronouns Chart

Singular/Plural	Reflexive Pronoun	Examples
Singular
1st person	myself	I talk to myself when I am nervous or excited.
2nd person	yourself	You cut yourself while cutting tomatoes.
3rd person (male)	himself	He hurt himself while playing hockey.
3rd person (female)	herself	She enjoyed herself at the party.
Plural
1st person	ourselves	We blame ourselves for the result of the election.
2nd person	yourselves	I suppose that you and your brother will have to go there yourselves.
3rd person	themselves	They believed in themselves.

Reflexive Pronouns List

• myself
• himself
• herself
• yourself
• oneself
• itself
• yourselves
• themselves
• ourselves

Reflexive Pronouns Example Sentences

Sentences of “Myself”

1. I hate myself for not understanding a situation better sooner so I could avoid losing something precious to me.
2. I feel bad about myself sometimes.
3. I gave it to myself as a gift.
4. I am saving some money for myself.
5. Last month I sent myself to an English language course. It helped me a lot.
6. I introduced myself to her.
7. I am going to do it for myself.
8. I can not do it just for myself.
9. I got bored with myself and could no longer take the boredom.
10. I want to see more of myself in my child.
11. This is something only I can understand myself.

Sentences of “Himself”

1. He bought it for himself.
2. Ryan went over the report himself.
3. He gave himself a big promotion.
4. The Prime Minister promised that he will deal with the economic problems himself.
5. People are often surprised that Mr. Jones actually prefers doing things for himself.
6. He did not get married, just for himself.
7. Steve is a very talented artist; he has painted all of these pictures himself.
8. He has to make the most of himself.
9. It’s no wonder that he doesn’t listen to himself.
10. He worked hard to make himself look respectable.

Sentences of “Herself”

1. Has your mother given herself any presents?
2. She can’t wait to see herself on TV.
3. On vacation, she didn’t need herself to go anywhere or see anyone!
4. She is talking to herself in the mirror.
5. My friend looked herself up on Google.
6. She made her bed with herself in mind.
7. She took herself to the zoo!
8. When asked to sign the contract, she signed it herself.
9. My mother made me lunch and herself a sandwich.
10. She did it all by herself.

Sentences of “Yourself”

1. Would you teach yourself a skill?
2. If you love yourself then that is all you need.
3. I think it is important to learn by yourself.
4. Don’t get yourself too.
5. You should be telling yourself that you are happy with what you do.
6. Could you include yourself in your evaluation?
7. It can be dangerous to do the job yourself.
8. When you visit here you must go to the historic castle yourself.
9. You should use yourself to do it.
10. Let me help you; you shouldn’t be doing that yourself.
11. Buy a new car for yourself.

Sentences of “Oneself”

1. I asked oneself a question.
2. One should treat oneself well.
3. One should do their best oneself.
4. No one understands oneself better than oneself.
5. It seems that the subway is the fastest way to get to work oneself.

Sentences of “Itself”

1. Inasmuch as the book itself is concerned, it’s brilliant reading and highly detailed.
2. The book itself is very good indeed.
3. This company has such a great reputation for itself, that if you are looking for a quality product, it will never disappoint.
4. I think that this situation itself is not easy to handle.
5. It grew itself out of control.
6. My sweater is grey on itself but it’s blue in the light.
7. The building itself is not open to the public.
8. He got his diploma from a university itself.
9. There was a hole in the wall, and the dog fell in itself.
10. The kitten chased its tail – that is, the kitten chased itself.

Sentences of “Yourselves”

1. You should all do the work yourselves.
2. She cannot save you from yourselves.
3. You got yourselves in this mess, you can get yourselves out.
4. I think you should buy it for yourselves.
5. You had better leave a present for yourselves!
6. Any help you get will be extra money for yourselves.
7. I want my own place, far away from you all and yourselves as well.
8. I hope that you will have confidence in yourselves.
9. Never forget that you are yourselves the makers of your own future.
10. Robert had a great time at the party with his friends who were all welcoming and considerate, as everyone could see, you should have seen yourselves!

Sentences of “Themselves”

1. They made themselves at home.
2. The most common reason for this is that they are too busy themselves.
3. They wanted to get into Notre Dame themselves.
4. The two girls bought lots of things for themselves.
5. Even if they didn’t understand it themselves.
6. The children were tired, but they amused themselves during the car trip.
7. They hurt themselves on broken glass.
8. They’re happy because no one saw themselves coming home last night.
9. The teacher was not happy with my work but my parents were more critical of themselves.
10. Each team should elect two persons to present themselves.

Sentences of “Ourselves”

1. If we could do it ourselves, why would we be paying you?
2. If you haven’t got any, don’t worry because we have some here for ourselves!
3. We bought ourselves a new car.
4. I wish we could rely on ourselves to solve the problem.
5. We have to get help for ourselves because we can’t get by on our own.

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Further Reading

• Emphatic Pronouns
• Relative Pronouns
• Interrogative Pronouns
• Possessive Pronouns
• Distributive Pronouns
• Personal Pronouns [Chart, Examples & 5 Types]
• Parts of Speech Free Posters
• 8 Parts of Speech with Examples
• Sentences of Pronoun (50 Examples)
• Personal Pronoun Worksheet and Exercise
• Different Types of Pronouns with 60+ Perfect Examples