A reflexive pronoun is a pronoun that is preceded by the noun, adjective, adverb or

pronoun to which it refers (its antecedent) within the same clause. In generative
grammar, a reflexive pronoun is an anaphor that must be bound by its antecedent
(see binding). In some languages, there is a difference between reflexive and nonreflexive pronouns; but the exact conditions that determine whether or not something
be bound are not yet well defined and depend on the language in question. It depends
on the part of the sentence containing the pronoun.
In English, the function of a reflexive pronoun is among the meanings of the words
myself, yourself, thyself (archaic), himself (in some dialects, "hisself"), herself, itself,
oneself, ourselves, ourself (as majestic plural), yourselves, and themselves (in some
dialects, "theirselves"). In the statements "I see him" and "She sees you", the objects
are not the same persons as the subjects, and regular pronouns are used. However,
when the person being seen is the same as the person who is seeing, the reflexive
pronoun is used: "I see myself" or "She sees herself".
metafrash
[
, , (
) . ,
anaphor (.
). ,
?

.
.

,
, , (), (
, "hisself"), , , , ,
( ) , ,
( , "").
, ,
.
, ,
: " " ]
In Indo-European languages, the reflexive pronoun has its origins in Proto-IndoEuropean. In some languages, the distinction between the normal object and reflexive
pronouns exists mainly in the third person: whether one says "I like me" or "I like
myself", there is no question that the object is the same person as the subject; but, in
"They like them(selves)", there can be uncertainty about the identity of the object
unless a distinction exists between the reflexive and the nonreflexive. In some
languages, this distinction includes genitive forms: see, for instance, the Danish

examples below. In languages with a distinct reflexive pronoun form, it is often

gender-neutral.
A reflexive pronoun is a special kind of pronoun that is usually used when the object
of a sentence is the same as the subject. Each personal pronoun (such as "I", "you"
and "she") has its own reflexive form:

[ - ,
--. ,
:
" " " ,
? , " (
)",
, nonreflexive.
, : ., ,
.
, .

.
( "I", "" "")
:]

I myself
you (singular) yourself
he himself
she herself
it itself
we ourselves
you (plural) yourselves
they themselves

Reflexive pronouns are primarily used in three situations: when the subject and object
are the same (e.g., "He watched himself on TV."), as the object of a preposition when
the subject and the object are the same (e.g., "That man is talking to himself."), and to
emphasize the subject through an intensive pronoun (e.g., "They ate all the food
themselves.")
It is increasingly common to use reflexive pronouns without local linguistic
antecedents to refer to discourse participants or people already referenced in a
discourse: for example, "Please, forward the information to myself." Such
formulations are usually considered non-standard and incorrect. These can often be
found within text where the writer has tried to formulate a more professional looking
letter without a true understanding of the language they are using. Within the
linguistics literature, reflexives with discourse antecedents are often referred to as
logophors. Standard English does allow the use of logophors in some contexts: for
example, "John was angry. Embarrassing pictures of himself were on display."
However, within Standard English, this logophoric use of reflexives is generally

limited to positions where the reflexive does not have a coargument.[1] The newer
non-standard usage does not respect this limitation. In some cases, reflexives without
local antecedents may be better analyzed as emphatic pronouns without any true
reflexive sense.
It is common in some subsets of the English-speaking population to use standard
object pronouns to express reflexive relations, especially in the first and sometimes
second persons, and especially for a recipient: for example, "I want to get me some
supper." This usage is non-standard.

[ Reflexive :
(.., ".
"),
(.., . "),
(..," . ")


: , ",
."
.

,
. ,
logophors.
logophors : , "John
.. ,
, logophoric
coargument. [1]
. ,

.

,
,
:. " ", ,
.]

The reflexive pronouns in Italian are:

mi (first person singular)

ti (second person singular)
si (third person singular)
ci (first person plural)
vi (second person plural)

si (third person plural)

Reflexive pronouns are usually employed when the direct object in a sentence is also
its subject, thus reflecting the action as expressed in the verb on the subject itself.
This pronoun allows the building of three kinds of reflexive verbal forms: proper,
non-proper (or ostensible), and reciprocal.

[
, , ,
, .

: , .

Io mi lavo, or io lavo me (I wash myself): reflexive proper, because the subject

is at the same time the object of the sentence.
Lui si lava i capelli (He washes his hair): reflexive non-proper, as he does not
wash himself but his hair, the real object of the action.
Noi due ci sposiamo oggi (the two of us get [are getting] married [to each
other] today): reflexive reciprocal, since the action is performed by the two
subjects reciprocally.

Notice that the sencence I wash myself could also be translated in Italian as io lavo me
stesso, that stresses the reflexiveness way more than the English.
The complete list of intensifying reflexive pronouns is:

me stesso (first person masculine singular)

me stessa (first person feminine singular)

te stesso (second person masculine singular)

te stessa (second person feminine singular)

se stesso (third person masculine singular)

se stessa (third person feminine singular)

noi stessi (first person masculine plural)

noi stesse (first person feminine plural)

voi stessi (second person masculine plural)

voi stesse (second person feminine plural)

loro stessi (third person masculine plural)

loro stesse (third person feminine plural)

A reciprocal is a linguistic structure that marks a particular kind of

relationship between two noun phrases. In a reciprocal construction, each of
the participants occupies both the role of agent and patient with respect to each
other. For example, the English sentence "John and Mary cut each other's
hair", contains a reciprocal structure: John cuts Mary's hair, and Mary cuts
John's.
Many languages, such as Turkic or Bantu languages, have special reciprocal
morphemes in verbs. English does not, and it generally uses "each other" or
some other phrase to indicate reciprocity. Latin uses inter and the reflexive
pronoun of the subject of the verb: inter se (between themselves) when the
verb is third-person. Most Indo-European languages do not have special
markers for reciprocity on verbs, and reciprocal constructions are expressed
through reflexivity or other mechanisms. For example, Russian marks
reciprocity in intransitive verbs with the suffix - (self), which has also
reflexive and passive interpretations.

The reciprocal pronouns in English are one another and each other. Together with
the reflexive pronouns myself, yourself, ourselves, yourselves, and others they
are classified as anaphors.
Reciprocity is the broader concept, of which reflexivity is a special case. Reciprocity
has A relating to B and B relating in exactly the same way to A. Reflexivity is the
concept of A reciprocating with itself.

[
. ,

. , "John Mary
, : John ,
John.
,
. . each other.

: se ( ), .
-
,
. ,
- (),
.

. - , ,
, - anaphors.
,
. B and B
. .]

Reciprocal: AB = AB and AB = AB and BA

Reflexive: AA = AA and AA = AA and AA = simply AA

Examples:

Reciprocal: They all said "Hello" to one another.

Reflexive: All alone, he had no friends but himself.

The classical Greek reciprocal pronoun was allln (). From this stems the
word parallel: para alllois ( ) "beside each other".
In grammar, a reflexive verb is a verb whose semantic agent and patient (typically
represented syntactically by the subject and the direct object) are the same. For
example, the English verb to perjure is reflexive, since one can only perjure oneself.
In a wider sense, the phrase refers to any verb form whose grammatical object is a
reflexive pronoun, regardless of semantics; such verbs are also referred to as
pronominal verbs, especially in grammars of the Romance languages.
There are languages that have explicit morphology to transform a verb into a reflexive
form. English employs reflexive derivation idiosyncratically, as in "self-destruct";
Romance languages do the same with the Greek-derived prefix auto-.
In many languages, reflexive constructions are rendered by transitive verbs followed
by a reflexive pronoun, as in English -self (e.g., "She threw herself to the floor.")
The "true" (literal) reflexive denotes that the agent is simultaneously the patient. The verb is
typically transitive, and can be used in non-reflexive meaning as well.
"Reciprocal" reflexive denotes that the agents perform the mutual actions among
themselves. In most cases, the transitive verbs are also used.
* ,
(
) . ,
, .
,
, ?
,
.

. English ,
""?
.

 ,
, -
(.., " .")
"" ()
. ,
, .
""
. , .+

Inherent
"Inherent" or "pronominal" (inherently or essentially) reflexive verbs lack the
corresponding non-reflexive from which they can be synchronically derived.[5] In
other words, se is an inherent part of an unergative reflexive or reciprocal verb with
no meaning of its own, and an obligatory part of the verb's lexical entry":[7]
["" "" ( )
. [5] , se
unergative ,
": [7]]

Language

Examples
Pedro se
Pedro se re Mara y Pedro se
Spanish
1]
arrepinti.
separaron.[N 1]
Maria e Pietro si
Pietro si pent. [N 2]
Italian
separarono.[N 1]
Petar se
Petar se
Marija i Petar su se
Serbosmije.
rastali.
Croatian pokajao.
Piotr si
Piotr si
Maria i Piotr si
Polish
pokaja.
mieje.
rozstali.

.
c.
.
Russian
Pyotr
Pyotr
Mariya i Pyotr
raskayalsya.
smeyotsya. rasstalis'.
Petras
Petras
Marija ir Petras
Lithuanian
atsipra.
juokiasi.
isiskyr.[N 1]
Mary and Peter
English Peter repented. Peter laughs.
parted.
[N

Pedro se queja.
Pietro si
lamenta.[N 3]
Petar se ali.[N 3]
Piotr ali si.[N 3]

e.[N 3]
Pyotr
zhaluyetsya.
Petras
skundiasi.[N 1]
Peter complains.

1. ^ a b c d e The verb is reflexive, but not inherently. Both have non-reflexive forms: the
transitive separar and the intransitive rer. In Lithuanian isiskirti and skstis have
non-reflexive forms: transitive iskirti and transitive sksti.
2. ^ The corresponding verb is not reflexive.

3. ^ a b c d Only the Spanish quejarse exists only in reflexive form (cf. the Latin deponent
verb queror, I complain); however, in other languages, the corresponding nonreflexive verb has a different meaning, like "lament" or "mourn".

Reflexive Pronouns
reflexive (adj.) [grammar]: reflecting back on the subject, like a mirror

We use a reflexive pronoun when we want to refer back to the subject of the sentence
or clause. Reflexive pronouns end in "-self" (singular) or "-selves" (plural).
There are eight reflexive pronouns:
reflexive pronoun

singular

myself
yourself
himself, herself, itself

plural

ourselves
yourselves
themselves

Look at these examples:

reflexive pronouns

the underlined words are NOT the same

person/thing

the underlined words are the SAME

person/thing

John saw me.

I saw myself in the mirror.

Why does he blame you?

Why do you blame yourself?

David sent him a copy.

John sent himself a copy.

David sent her a copy.

Mary sent herself a copy.

My dog hurt the cat.

My dog hurt itself.

We blame you.

We blame ourselves.

Can you help my children?

Can you help yourselves?

They cannot look after the babies.

They cannot look after themselves.

Intensive pronouns
Notice that all the above reflexive pronouns can also act as intensive pronouns, but
the function and usage are different. An intensive pronoun emphasizes its antecedent.
Look at these examples: [

,
. .
:]

I made it myself. OR I myself made it.

Have you yourself seen it? OR Have you seen it yourself?
The President himself promised to stop the war.
She spoke to me herself. OR She herself spoke to me.
The exam itself wasn't difficult, but exam room was horrible.
Never mind. We'll do it ourselves.
You yourselves asked us to do it.
They recommend this book even though they themselves have never read it. OR
They recommend this book even though they have never read it themselves.

When we use reflexive pronouns.

1. When the subject and the object refer to the same person or thing.

He accidentally cut himself while he was chopping the vegetables.

She bought a present for herself.
We helped ourselves to the free drinks at the launch party.
They injured themselves during the rugby match.
I enjoyed myself at the concert.
The dog is scratching itself it must have fleas!

2. We use them for emphasis.

The author signed the book for me herself!

I did it myself.

3. In some cases we use it to have a similar meaning to also.

Annabelle was pretty happy last night. I was pretty happy myself.

When we don't use reflexive pronouns.

1. There are a number of verbs in English with which we rarely or never use reflexive
pronouns (as they are in other languages).
They include: adapt, behave, complain, concentrate, get up, hide, lie down, meet,
move, relax, remember, shave, shower, sit down.
2. After a preposition of place or location we use a personal pronoun and not a
reflexive pronoun.

He put the backpack next to him.

Ourselves, Themselves and Each Other

1. We use each other when two or more people or things perform the same action to
the other.

Our neighbors were shouting at each other all night.

My brothers always compete with each other in sport.

2. Take note of the difference between these two sentences:

Mark and Sarah killed themselves. (They each committed suicide).

Mark and Sarah killed each other. (Mark killed Sarah and she killed Mark).

More about Each Other

We use the reciprocal pronoun each other when the action is between two people,
and not reflexive.

They stared into each other's eyes.

The hate each other.

And to make the contrast clearer:

Mike and Carol bought each other presents for Christmas

(Mike bought a present for Carol and Carol bought a present for Mike). is
very different to

Mike and Carol bought themselves presents for Christmas

(Mike bought a present for himself and Carol bought a present for herself).

Reflexive Pronouns with Objects

We use verb + reflexive pronoun + object when we do something for ourselves.

She cooked herself a quiche.

We taught ourselves French.

We use verb + object + reflexive pronoun when we want to emphasize that

another person did not do the action (or assist).

I repaired the tire myself.

They did the homework themselves.
My brother spoke to his boss himself about a raise.

By + Reflexive Pronouns
We use by + myself/yourself/himself etc when we are alone or not with another
person.

Jacob went to the party by himself.

Emma was sitting by herself.

(suus, sua, suum)

(sui, sibi, se, a se)

(,

. .
.

).
:

 ,
, se suus,
( ,
,

).

.. Belua movet se. (3) = (= )

( se movet,
belua. se belua,
).
(Silius Italicus)ultimis annis vitae suae in Campani se tenebat. (5) = .

()

( suae se
, )
1: ,

.. Germani in fluminibus lavantur.(15) lavantur = lavant se =

(=

2: suus, -a, -um, is, ea, id

.. (Silius) gloriae Vergili studebat ingeniumque eius fovebat. (5) =

).

(Silius) gloriae Vergili studebat ingeniumque suum fovebat. =

(

 3:
.

..

amo +

subvenio +

amo me =

subvenio mihi =

amas te =

subvenis tibi =

amamus nos =

subvenimus nobis =

amatis vos =

subvenitis vobis =

,
, se suus,
(, , ,
),
.
/

,

.
.. (Cassius) existimavit ad se venire hominem []. (14) =

[].

( (ad se),
(ad se venire hominem), (Cassius)
(existimavit) (
)
(hominem), )
Puella [] rogavit materteram, ut sibi paulisper loco cederet. (38) =
.
( sibi (puella) (rogavit)
(matertera)
(cederet) )

.

(nos, vos, se) inter

..

amamus

inter

amatis

inter

vos

amant

inter

se

nos
=
=

: :
(
) ( ), (
),

..

manus

manum

lavat

alter

alterum

iuvat

).

alius alium interficiebat = ()

We use a reflexive pronoun after a transitive verb (see Clauses, Sentences and Phrases) when the direct object
is the same as the subject of the verb:

I am teaching myself to play the piano.

Be careful with that knife. You might cut yourself.
These are the verbs most often found with reflexive pronouns:

cut

dry

enjoy

hurt

introduce

kill

prepare

teach
Some verbs change their meaning slightly when they have a reflexive pronoun as direct object:

amuse

apply

busy

content

behave

blame

distance

express

find

help

see

Would you like to help yourself to

another drink?

= Would you like to take another drink?

I wish the children would behave

themselves.

= I wish the children would behave well.

He found himself lying by the side of

the road.

I saw myself as a famous actor.

= I imagined that I was a famous actor.

She applied herself to the job of

mending the lights.

= She worked very hard to mend the lights.

He busied himself in the kitchen.

= He worked busily in the kitchen.

I had to content myself with a few

= I had to be satisfied with a few Euros.

He was surprised when he realised that he was at

the side of the road.

Euros.

The verb enjoy always has an object:

We all enjoyed the party.
I really enjoyed my lunch.
If enjoy has no other object, we use a reflexive pronoun:
They all enjoyed They all enjoyed themselves.
I really enjoyed I really enjoyed myself.
NOTE: We do not use a reflexive pronoun after verbs which describe things people usually do for themselves:
He washed in cold water.
He always shaved before going out in the evening.
Michael dressed and got ready for the party.
We only use reflexives with these verbs for emphasis:
He dressed himself in spite of his injuries.
Shes old enough to wash herself.

Ergative verbs
1. Ergative verbs are both transitive and intransitive:

Peter closed the door

Transitive: N + V + N

The door closed

Intransitive: N + V

I boiled a pan of water

Transitive: N + V + N

The pan boiled

Intransitive: N + V

2. Common ergative verbs are:

begin

break

change

close

drop

crack

dry

end

finish

grow

improve

increase

move

open

shake

start

stop

tear

turn
I broke the glass.
I dropped the glass and it broke.
The referee blew his whistle and started the match.
The match started at 2.30.
We grew some tasty potatoes.
The potatoes were growing well.
The wind shook the trees.
The trees shook in the wind.
3. Many verbs to do with cooking are ergative verbs:

bake

boil

cook

defrost

freeze

melt

roast
You should roast the meat at 200 degrees centigrade.
The meat was roasting in a hot oven.
I always defrost meat before I cook it.
I am waiting for the meat to defrost.
Melt the chocolate and pour it over the ice cream.
The chocolate was melting in a pan.

4. Verbs to do with vehicles are often ergative:

back

crash

drive

fly

reverse

run

sail

start

stop
Im learning to fly a plane.
The plane flew at twice the speed of sound.
He crashed his car into a tree.
His car crashed into a tree.
5. We use some ergative verbs with only a few nouns:

catch: dress, coat, clothes, trousers etc.

fire : Gun, pistol, rifle, rocket.

play: guitar, music, piano, violin, CD, DVD etc.

ring: bell, alarm

She caught her dress on a nail.
Her dress caught on a nail.
He fired a pistol to start the race.
A pistol fired to start the race.
Reflexive pronouns are used much less often in English than in other languages. This
explanation provides an overview to reflexive pronoun use in English with explanations and
examples.
English Reflexive Pronouns
I - myself
you - yourself
he - himself
she - herself
it - itself
we - ourselves
you - yourselves
they - themselves
Here is a list of some of the most common reflexive verbs in English:

to
to
to
to
to
to
to
to

enjoy oneself
hurt oneself
kill oneself
market oneself
convince oneself
deny oneself
encourage oneself
pay oneself

Reflexive pronouns are used in three instances in English.

With Reflexive Verbs
Examples:
I enjoyed myself last summer.
He's trying to market himself as a consultant.
Sharon pays herself $5,000 a month.
We encourage ourselves to learn something new every week.
As an Object of a Preposition Referring to Subject
Examples:
Tom bought a motorcycle for himself.
They purchased a round trip ticket to New York for themselves.
We made everything in this room by ourselves.
Jackie took a weekend holiday to be by herself.
To Emphasize Something
Examples:
No, I want to finish it myself! (I don't want anyone helping me.)
She insists on talking to the doctor herself. (She didn't want anyone else talking to the
doctor.)
Frank tends to eat everything himself. (He doesn't let the other dogs get any food.)
Problem Areas
Many languages such as Italian, French, Spanish, German, and Russian often use verb
forms which employ reflexive pronouns. Here are some examples:
alzarsi - Italian / get up
cambiarsi - Italian / change clothes
sich anziehen - German / get dressed
sich erholen - German / get better
se baigner - French / to bathe, swim
se doucher - French / to shower

In English, reflexive verbs are much less common. Sometimes students make the mistake
of translating directly from their native language and adding a reflexive pronoun when not
necessary.
Examples:
I get myself up, shower myself and have breakfast before I leave for work. SHOULD BE I
get up, shower and have breakfast before I leave for work.
She becomes herself angry when she doesn't get her way. SHOULD BE She becomes
angry when she doesn't get her way.

More Links

Using Relative Clauses - Defining Relative Clauses

Basic English - Pronouns - 30 Essential Lessons for Beginning English Learners
Using Relative Clauses - Non-defining Relative Clauses

Grammar Lesson Plans

Beginner Level Free English Lesson Plans - Lesson Plans for TESOL Teaching
ESL Lesson Plan - Grammar Review and Extension Match-Up Game
Comparative Form - Superlative Form

Pronoun Quizzes

Personal Pronouns - 1
Personal Pronouns - 2

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