reflexive pronoun

These are the ‑self words, as in myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, themselves. They are called reflexive and intensive pronouns and are used in two ways: (1) to reflect action back onto the actor in the sentence (reflexive pronoun) and (2) to intensify a statement (intensive pronoun).

Remember these two rules about the use of reflexive pronouns:

1. Use the ‑self pronoun only when the subject of the sentence and an object in the sentence are one and the same.

2. Never use a ‑self pronoun as a subject, only as an object.

The reflexive pronouns enable you to make action reflect back on the subject of the sentence. Thus:

He hurt himself. She committed herself to achieving success.

The reflexive pronouns should always serve as objects, never as subjects. In formal settings, it is a grammatical mistake to use a reflexive pronoun as the subject of a sentence.

Study these incorrect uses of a reflexive pronoun, with fixes appearing parenthetically:

Please send the report to Jane and myself. (Please send the report to Jane and me.)

Fred and myself appreciate the invitation. (Fred and I appreciate the invitation.)