Reflexive Pronouns: The word itself talks about reflection. It talks about the Subject
doing the action.
Reflexive pronouns end in “-self” (singular) or “-selves” (plural).
There are eight reflexive pronouns:
singular: myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself
plural: ourselves, yourselves, themselves
Let’s learn some examples:
non-reflexive
I saw myself in the mirror.
Why do you blame yourself?
John sent himself a copy.
Mary sent herself a copy.
My dog hurt itself.
We blame ourselves.
Can you help yourselves?
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 the 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 had never read it. OR They recommend this book even though they had never read it themselves.