Practice

Now, practice the grammar you just learned!

Use the Comments section below to tell us about taking care of a baby (real or not), or maybe an animal. You can talk about yourself, or maybe a friend or family member/s. What happened? How did it go?

Using Reflexive Pronouns

We use reflexive pronouns when the subject and object of the sentence or clause are the same person or thing.

Ex: I asked myself the same question.

Subjects and their reflexive pronouns:

I…myself
You…yourself
He…himself
Her…herself
One…oneself
It…itself
We…ourselves
You…yourselves
They…themselves

A reflexive pronoun can be a direct object, indirect object or an object of the preposition.

Direct Object:
Ex: A baby cannot take care of itself.

Indirect Object:
Ex: I asked myself the same question.

Object of the Preposition:
Ex: Anna and Pete are experiencing parenthood for themselves.

To show emphasis:

Sometimes, we use reflexive pronouns simply to emphasize the person or thing in the sentence or clause. In this case, the reflexive pronoun often appears at the end of the sentence:

Ex: Anna took care of the baby herself.
We do NOT use reflexive pronouns:

After prepositions of place

Ex: Anna found the flour baby in the kitchen herself. (wrong) 
Anna found the flour baby in the kitchen. (right)

After these verbs: meet, feel, relax, concentrate

Ex: They will meet themselves at The Studio next Friday. (wrong)
They will meet at The Studio next Friday. (right)

After verbs that describe things we normally do for ourselves, such as dress, shave and wash​

Ex: Anna got dressed herself for a day with her new flour baby. (wrong)
Anna got dressed for a day with her new flour baby. (right)

Don't miss the next episode when we'll talk more about when not to use reflexive pronouns!