MARCO SUCUPIRA LANGUAGE MATERIALS
FORM:
| Persons | Pronouns |
| 1st person | MYSELF |
| 2nd person | YOURSELF |
| 3rd person | HIMSELF |
| HERSELF | |
| ITSELF | |
| 1st person | OURSELVES |
| 2nd person | YOURSELVES |
| 3rd person | THEMSELVES |
| Indefinite | ONESELF |
USES
These pronouns have two functions. They can be:
a)
Reflexive b) Emphasizing
a) A Reflexive Pronoun is used as the object of a verb when the action of the verb returns to the doer, i.e.: when subject and object are the same person.
In this
case the pronoun is essential to complete the meaning of the
sentence and can not be omitted.
I
wash my hands.
Subj.
D.O.
I
wash myself.
Subj.
D.O.
Other
examples:
She
saw herself in the mirror.
The boy can dress himself.
He cut himself last night.
The children behave themselves.
Notice the difference
in meaning when the reflexive pronoun is
replaced by each other or one another
(reciprocal pronouns).
The
boys were hungry. They helped themselves to the cake.
The boys are friends. They always help each other.
Bob and Kelly hurt themselves.
Bob and Kelly hurt each other.
b) An
Emphasizing
pronoun is used to give emphasis to some person or
thing mentioned in the sentence.
Sandra
herself prepared the dinner.
I myself saw him do it.
In these
sentences the subject and the object of the sentence are not
identical and the pronoun can be omitted without changing the
sense of the sentence. We may say:
I
cut the bread.
I myself cut the bread. or
I
cut the bread myself.
When
the pronoun emphasizes the subject of
the sentence it can be placed after the subject or after the
object.
When it emphasizes another noun it is placed
immediately after it.
I
spoke to the Princess herself.
She saw the baby itself but not its mother.
Remark: We also use
reflexive pronouns idiomatically in English. In this case it is
preceded by the preposition "by" and it means
"alone, without help".
He
lives by himself in that old house.
They found their way back by themselves.
She likes to solve her exercises by herself.
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