Do you ever find yourself unsure about when and how to use a reflexive pronoun like yourself? Luckily, there are just a few forms to learn for reflexive pronouns in English, and these tips will help you identify and practice where you'll need them.

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What are reflexive pronouns in English?

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Reflexive pronouns are personal pronouns that replace the object of a verb when the subject and the object are the same person or thing.

Reflexive pronouns have two defining characteristics: They always end in ‑self or ‑selves, and you use them if the action is caused by the subject, and it happens to the subject, too! 🤯 For example, in the sentence Lily bought herself a new book, Lily is the person buying the book *and* receiving it—the book was for her.

What are the different reflexive pronouns in English?

In English, reflexive pronouns change based on whether the noun they’re referring to is in the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd person, and whether it’s singular or plural.

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Reflexive pronouns in English are formed by combining a personal pronoun with ‑self for singular forms and ‑selves for plurals.

Note that most forms use the possessive adjective (my, your, etc), but a couple use the object pronoun form (him, them) instead:

PERSON REFLEXIVE PRONOUN
1st singular
(I)		 myself
2nd singular
(you)		 yourself
3rd singular
(he / she / it)		 himself
herself
itself
1st plural
(we)		 ourselves
2nd plural
(you)		 yourselves
3rd plural
(they)		 themselves

When to use reflexive pronouns in English

In English, you use reflexive pronouns to show that the subject and object are the same. This works when it's the object of a verb (like a form of make or teach) or the object of a preposition (like at, of, or to):

  • I don’t like listening to myself sing.
  • Lucy made herself a radio out of tin cans.
  • We taught ourselves to rollerblade.

Tips for learning English reflexive pronouns

Building confidence using reflexive pronouns in English will take time and practice, so use these tips to keep progressing in your learning:

  • Start small. Practice the use of reflexive pronouns with shorter, more common sentences first. This might mean learning to use the correct pronoun in a sentence like
    She talks to herself
    before moving on to something more complex like
    He couldn’t help but laugh at himself because of the strange haircut he used to have
    .
  • Remember the exceptions. The general rule for reflexives is that they are formed with the possessive adjectives + ‑self/‑selves, but remember the exceptions with the object pronoun forms instead. You’ll have to memorize those!
  • Beware of other prepositions. Not all prepositions will work with reflexive pronouns—for example, you won't use reflexives when talking about location, as in
    I put the glass near me
    .
  • English speakers vary! English speakers don't all use reflexive pronouns the same way—in fact, these days there are some new uses of reflexive pronouns evolving! You might hear those pronouns used in ways you don't expect, but that doesn’t mean you have to learn them all: Just practice the most common uses for the English you’re learning.

Bonus: Other uses of myself, yourself, etc.

Sometimes you’ll see a pronoun that looks exactly like a reflexive pronoun, but, grammatically, it’s actually doing something different. This can occur if someone wants to emphasize a noun, or with prepositions like by or for to show that something happens on its own. The pronouns used in these cases are called intensive (or emphatic) pronouns, rather than reflexive pronouns. The good news is that the forms for both are identical, so once you learn reflexive pronouns, you’ll be able to use the same forms as intensive pronouns, too! Let’s look at how intensive pronouns work.


Pronouns for emphasis on a noun. Intensive pronouns can be used to show that the subject really is the one who is doing the action of the verb. For example, in the sentence The queen herself said so, the pronoun herself intensifies the subject (the queen), making it an intensive pronoun! No matter which person you’re talking about, intensive pronouns always take the same form as reflexive pronouns:

  • She couldn’t believe they made the costumes themselves!
  • The green owl himself made an appearance at midnight.
  • Could you call him yourself next time?

Pronouns with by or for to show that something happens on its own. Intensive pronouns are used with the prepositions by and for to show that the subject is doing the action without any help:

  • Did you all make the cake all by yourselves?
  • I’ll need to see that for myself.
  • For the test, Junior will need to calculate it by himself.

Keep yourself moving ahead in English

Reflexive pronouns are straightforward to memorize, though it can take a little time to learn how to use them. But once you know your reflexive pronouns, imagine how proud of yourself you'll be!

Examples of reflexive pronouns in English

  • I sing to myself in the shower.
  • You always make yourself laugh with that joke!
  • He’ll give himself a headache if he doesn’t rest.
  • Lin kept herself busy while she waited for the call.
  • That little bird locked itself in the garage.
  • Bea and I bought ourselves flowers to celebrate.
  • Can you all find yourselves in the picture?
  • Zari and Lily wrote silly stories about themselves.