Page 42 - English Grammar - 5

4. The bicycle whose front tyre is flat is mine.

5. The person whom we met in the book fair had come from Frankfurt.

Reflexive Pronouns

When the actions of the verbs return to their doer, the pronouns myself, ourselves,
yourself, yourselves, himself, herself, itself and themselves are used. These are called
reflexive pronouns.

Read the following sentences.

I worked on the project myself. (myself stands for the subject I)
O
You noticed yourself. (yourself stands for the subject you)
O
We cooked food ourselves. (ourselves stands for the subject we)
O
He went out himself. (himself stands for the subject he)
O
She wrote the letter herself. (herself stands for the subject she)
O
They learnt the poem themselves. (themselves stands for the subject they)
O
The dog washed itself. (itself stands for the subject the dog)
O
In each of these sentences, the action done by the doer returns to the doer as the doer
and the receiver of the action are the same person.

The pronouns myself, yourself, ourselves, himself, herself, themselves and itself have
been used as receivers of actions. Therefore, they are called reflexive pronouns.

Emphasising Pronouns

A reflexive pronoun that lays emphasis on a particular noun or pronoun is called an
emphasising pronoun.

Read the following sentences.

I myself cooked for you.
O
You yourself told me this thing.
O The shop itself was not very big.
Pronouns In the above sentences, the pronouns myself, yourself and itself are emphasising
O

pronouns because they are used to give special importance to the subjects I, you and
the shop.

R
Rememberemember
An emphasising pronoun is placed immediately after a noun or pronoun.

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