Grammar guide Updated 2026-09-11

Reflexive Pronouns: A Clear Teaching Guide

A reflexive pronoun points back to the subject of the clause: She hurt herself, We taught ourselves. English has eight, and the list is short enough to memorise in one lesson. The difficulty is knowing when the reflexive is required and when it is wrong, because some verbs already include the idea of doing something to yourself.

The eight reflexive pronouns

Point out the pattern out loud: singular forms end in -self, plural forms in -selves. That one line prevents the most common spelling error in learner writing: yourself and yourselves are not interchangeable.

The two jobs a reflexive pronoun can do

The first job is grammatical: the pronoun is the object of the verb and must match the subject. He blames himself is not the same as He blames him, which points at somebody else.

The second job is emphasis, where the sentence survives without the pronoun: The manager herself answered the phone also works as The manager answered the phone. The reflexive adds and nobody else did it. Keeping the two jobs separate stops students sprinkling reflexives at random.

Where the reflexive is required

Several everyday expressions are fixed with a reflexive pronoun. Teach them as whole phrases rather than analysing each one:

• Enjoy yourself and help yourself — social formulas that sound wrong without the pronoun.
• Behave yourself, make yourself at home, take care of yourself — set phrases learners meet constantly.
• By myself, by yourself, by ourselves — meaning alone or unaided: I finished the report by myself.
• Teach yourself, introduce yourself, prepare yourself — verbs whose object is naturally the same person as the subject.
• Look after yourself — a phrasal verb where the pronoun sits between verb and particle.

Where the reflexive is wrong

Many verbs already contain the idea of acting on yourself, so a reflexive doubles it: feel, relax, concentrate, wake up, get up, dress, wash and hurry. Say I feel tired, not I feel myself tired. The mistake is frequent among learners whose first language uses a reflexive in the same slot, so expect to correct it more than once.

One narrow exception is worth mentioning: She washed herself is correct when you need to stress that she washed her own body rather than someone else. The reflexive is not banned; it has to carry meaning.

Reflexive or reciprocal?

Students mix up themselves and each other, though both describe an action inside a group. Test it with names: if Ana blames Ana and Ben blames Ben, use themselves; if Ana blames Ben, use each other.

A four-step teaching sequence

1. Drill the forms aloud. Chant each subject with its reflexive until he–himself and they–themselves arrive without a pause.
2. Match subject to object. Give sentences with the object missing and two options, one reflexive and one ordinary pronoun. Ask students to justify the choice out loud.
3. Collect the fixed phrases. Have pairs list five expressions they already know with a reflexive, then pool the class list on the board.
4. Correct the false reflexives. Show five sentences with an unnecessary reflexive and ask students to remove the wrong ones.

Before you teach this topic, check that the class is steady on ordinary object pronouns; if subject and object forms still blur, run a quick grammar drill first. Revisit subject–verb agreement afterwards, since both topics depend on finding the real subject.

The mistakes learners make most often

• ✘ She hurt her. → ✔ She hurt herself.

  The object and the subject are the same person, so English needs the reflexive.

• ✘ I feel myself tired. → ✔ I feel tired.

  Feel already implies the action on yourself.

• ✘ They blamed each other for the delay when they meant themselves. → ✔ They blamed themselves for the delay.

  Themselves stays inside each person; each other crosses between people.

• ✘ Please help yourself, everyone. → ✔ Please help yourselves, everyone.

  A plural audience takes the -selves form.

• ✘ He made the cake by him. → ✔ He made the cake by himself.

  By plus a reflexive means alone or unaided; an ordinary pronoun changes the meaning.

How to practise reflexive pronouns

The forms take ten minutes; the usage takes weeks. Learners need frequent contact with all three kinds of sentence: required reflexives, wrong reflexives and emphatic ones. Mixing them in one drill beats a page of fill-in-the-gaps with a single pattern.

Start with a focused set on the pronoun forms, then push the same structures into the mixed review or the timed challenge to build speed. For classroom use, print the questions as a worksheet with an answer key, or combine this topic with object pronouns in the worksheet builder. The passive voice guide is a natural follow-on, because both topics turn on who performs and who receives an action.

Browse the grammar drills → Build a worksheet Quiz of the Day

Frequently asked questions

What are the reflexive pronouns in English?

There are eight: myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves and themselves. Each points back to the subject of the same clause. Singular forms end in -self and plural forms in -selves, which is why yourself and yourselves are different words.

When do you need a reflexive pronoun?

Use one when the object is the same person as the subject and the verb does not already carry that meaning: She hurt herself, I taught myself. You also need it in fixed phrases such as enjoy yourself, help yourself, behave yourself and by yourself.

Why is I feel myself tired wrong?

Some verbs already include the idea of doing something to yourself, so a reflexive would double it. Feel, relax, concentrate, wake up, get up, dress, wash and hurry belong to that group; say I feel tired, not I feel myself tired. Add the reflexive only when the object is genuinely part of the action, as in She washed herself and then the child.

What is the difference between themselves and each other?

Themselves sends the action back to the same people: They blamed themselves. Each other sends it across the group: They blamed each other. If Ana blames Ana and Ben blames Ben, use themselves; if Ana blames Ben, use each other.

Do reflexive pronouns work as emphasis?

Yes. An emphatic reflexive can sit after the noun or at the end of the clause: The manager herself answered the phone, or The manager answered the phone herself. Remove it and the sentence still stands, which is how you tell emphasis from grammar.

Keep reading

• Subject–Verb Agreement: Teaching the Tricky Cases
• Passive Voice: How to Teach It With Clear Examples
• Question Forms: Auxiliaries, Word Order and Tags

Every guide on this blog is paired with a free drill: the same rules, applied question by question, with explanations and a printable worksheet.