I taught myself to play the guitar.
- Language
- English
- Level
- B1
- Unit
- Pronouns and Possessives
- Practice types
- 0
What this grammar point covers
Reflexive pronouns are words like 'myself', 'yourself', 'himself', etc. We use them when the subject and the object of a sentence are the same person.
When to use it
Use reflexive pronouns when the subject does something to himself/herself/itself, or to emphasize that someone did something alone or without help.
Key forms
- myself
- yourself
- himself
- herself
- itself
- ourselves
- yourselves
- themselves
Examples
She looked at herself in the mirror.
We enjoyed ourselves at the party.
The cat cleaned itself.
They did the project themselves.
Tips
- Do not use a reflexive pronoun when another person is the object.
- Remember: 'myself' is only for 'I', not for 'me' or 'my'.
- Do not use a reflexive pronoun after most verbs like 'meet', 'feel', 'relax'.
Exceptions and edge cases
- Some verbs in English do not use reflexive pronouns, even if they do in other languages (for example, 'wash', 'dress').