LEVEL 2 • INSTITUTO DE IDIOMAS • UNIVERSIDAD DE SEVILLA • LEVEL 2 • INSTITUTO DE IDIOMAS • UNIVERSIDAD DE SEVILLA • LEVEL 2

LEVEL II — REFLEXIVE PRONOUNS

singular plural
1st person myself ourselves
nd
2 person yourself yourselves
himself
3rd person herself themselves
itself

Reflexive pronouns are used as the object of a verb or preposition when the subject and object are the same.
e.g. I fell and hurt myself while I was playing tennis.
He loves looking at himself in the mirror.
My mother often talks to herself.
When the subject is everyone, we usually use the reflexive pronoun themselves.
e.g. Everyone was enjoying themselves.
Here are some common verbs that we can use with a reflexive pronoun:
enjoy express help introduce kill teach
injure defend blame hurt burn cut

Remember that reflexive verbs are much less common in English than in Spanish, especially
 when talking about actions that you normally do to yourself.
e.g. Me levanté, me afeité, me lavé la cabeza y me vestí.
I got up, shaved, washed my hair and got dressed. (However, we say: I dried myself.)
 when the meaning of the sentence is not transitive
e.g. La estatua de hielo se estaba derritiendo. (No se estaba derritiendo a si mismo.)
The ice statue was melting.
 to describe the process of becoming (usually get in English)
e.g. to get bored (aburrirse) to get angry (enfadarse) to get closer (acercarse)
to get wet (mojarse) to get lost (perderse) to get longer (alargarse)

Relax, concentrate and meet are other verbs that are not reflexive in English.
However enjoy is always transitive and is often used reflexively.
I enjoyed the party. (transitive)
I enjoyed myself at the party. (transitive and reflexive)

To express a reciprocal action we use each other (or one another).

e.g. Donna and Terry looked at each other from opposite sides of the room.
If we say Donna and Terry looked at themselves, it means that Donna looked at Donna and Terry looked at
Terry.

We also use reflexive pronouns after by to mean alone.

e.g. I like living by myself. = I like living on my own / alone.

We can also use a reflexive pronoun to emphasize a noun or a pronoun.

e.g. The President himself visited the scene of the disaster.
El propio presidente visitó el lugar del desastre.
I liked the house itself, but I didn’t like the area.
Me gustaba la casa en sí, pero no me gustaba la zona.

Note the difference between:

I made the jumper myself. (I, not someone else, made the jumper, but it is not necessarily for me.)
Yo mismo hice el jersey.
I made myself a jumper. (I made a jumper for myself.)
Me hice un jersey.
LEVEL 2 • INSTITUTO DE IDIOMAS • UNIVERSIDAD DE SEVILLA • LEVEL 2 • INSTITUTO DE IDIOMAS • UNIVERSIDAD DE SEVILLA • LEVEL 2

Exercise A. Complete with an appropriate reflexive pronoun.

1. Everyone really enjoyed ______________________ at the party.
2. They’re trying to teach ______________________ Spanish, but they aren’t making
much progress.
3. You don’t need to pay for me. I can pay for ______________________.
4. John sometimes finds it difficult to express ______________________.
5. The old lady was talking to ______________________.
6. You all played very well. You can be proud of _________________________.

Exercise B. Complete with a reflexive pronoun where possible.

1. When I was frying the sausages, I burnt ______________________ my finger.
2. The man fell off the ladder and injured ______________________.
3. We had lunch and then we relaxed ______________________.
4. Did you enjoy ______________________ the meal?
5. Lots of Americans think they need guns to protect ______________________.
6. My wife and I met at a friend’s wedding. She was by ____________________, so I
introduced ______________________ to her.

Exercise C. Complete with a reflexive pronoun or each other.

1. At Christmas friends give ______________________ presents.
2. They had an argument last week and they still aren’t speaking to
______________________.
3. Some people are very selfish. They only think of ______________________.
4. Alan and I haven’t seen ______________________ for years, but we still write to
______________________.
5. No one offered us any thing to eat, so we helped ______________________ to
some sandwiches.
6. They sat for two hours without talking to ______________________.
7. It’s our own fault. We blame ______________________.