Reflexive and Intensive Pronouns

When you are done, try the Reflexive and Intensive Pronouns Quiz.

Reflexive and intensive pronouns are the words myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves,
yourselves, themselves. These words are classified or grouped as reflexive depending on how they are
used in sentences. In the examples below the reflexive and intensive pronouns are in italics.

Reflexive pronouns refer back to the subject of a sentence:

I gave myself plenty of time to get to work.

You should let yourself into the house.

Jim bought himself a shirt.

Jill read to herself.

The dog scratched itself.

We treated ourselves to pizza.

You can make yourselves at home.

The children are able to dress themselves.

Intensive pronouns are the same words used to smphasize the subject of the sentence. Intensive
pronouns usually appear right near the subject of the sentence.

I myself am sick of the heat.

You yourself are responsible for this mess!

The president himself appeared at the rally.

The actress herself wrote those lines.

The cat itself caught the mouse.

We ourselves made the meal.

You yourselves can win this game.

The troops themselves helped the people escape the burning building.

Relative Pronouns
When finished, try the Relative Pronoun Quiz.
Relative pronouns are used to link phrases or clauses to other phrases or clauses. The relative pronouns
are who, whom, that, which, whoever, whomever, and whichever.

In the sentences below the relative pronouns are in italics.

I don't know who called.

Brad asked to whom he should give the package.

Pat knew that she had won the match.

Jerry didn't know which was his.

Emily told whoever came first to open the gate.

Josh told Alex to ask whomever he wanted.

Sarah took whichever was left over.

Demonstrative Pronouns

When you are finished, try the Demonstrative Pronouns Quiz.

The four demonstrative pronouns are this, that, these, those. A demonstrative pronoun identifies and
specifies a noun or pronoun.

This and these refer to nouns that are nearby in time or space. That or those refer to nouns that are
further away in time or space. This and that refer to singular nouns; these and those refer to plural
nouns. The demonstrative pronouns are in italics.

This tastes delicious. (This is the subject of the sentence.)

I don't like this. (This is the direct object of the sentence.)

That will run for an hour. (That is the subject of the sentence.)

Jim wrote that. (That is the direct object of the sentence.)

These look good. (These is the subject of the sentence.)

I'll take these. (These is the direct object of the sentence.)

Those belong to Linda. (Those is the subject of the sentence.)

Jack brought those. (Those is the direct object of the sentence.)

*Note: This, that, these, those can be used as demonstrative adjectives as well as demonstrative
pronouns.
Interrogative Pronouns
When you are finished, try the Interrogative Pronouns Quiz.

Interrogative pronouns take the place of nouns in questions.

Interrogative pronouns include the words who, whom, which and what as well as whoever, whomever,
whatever and whichever.

The word in italics is the interrogative pronoun.

Who entered the room?

What was the noise?

Which came first?

Whom should we give the prize to?

Whoever came to the door?

Whatever are you doing?

Whomever should we invite?

Whichever came first?

Indefinite Pronouns
When finished, try the Indefinite Pronouns Quiz.

An indefinite pronoun refers to something that is not definite or specific or exact.

The indefinite pronouns are all, another, any, anybody, anyone, anything, each, everybody, everyone,
everything, few, many, nobody, none, one, several, some, somebody, someone, These indefinite
pronouns can also be used as indefinite adjectives in some cases.

The examples in the sentences below show the indefinite pronouns in italics.

All are welcome to attend the concert.

Mary gave the book to another.

I don't have any.

Does anybody have a clue?

Anyone can play that game.

Peter didn't see anything suspicious.

Each brought a dish to pass.

Everybody left town for the weekend.

Everyone enjoyed the movie.

Everything is taken care of.

Few visited that park.

Many called for information.

Jennifer told nobody her secret.

None came forward to claim the prize.

One could see the mountains from miles away.

Several signed the card.

The room is too gloomy for some.

Somebody called the store.

Joe gave the form to someone.

Intensive and reflexive pronouns are the same words, but fulfill different functions.
An intensive pronoun is used to add emphasis to a noun:

The man *himself* admits that he lied.

You *yourself* have voted for this policy.

We have nothing to fear but fear *itself*.

An intensive pronoun usually immediately follows the subject of the sentence, and could be omitted
without changing the meaning of the sentence.
A pronoun is reflexive when it indicates that the subject and object of a sentence are the same:

I gave *myself* a birthday present.

Americans should blame *themselves* for the sorry state of their politics.

We see *ourselves* as victims of uncontrollable events.

Reflexive pronouns can’t be removed from sentences without making the sentences into meaningless
fragments.

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Related QuestionsMore Answers Below
What are some different reflexive pronouns?
What are the uses of intensive and reflexive pronouns?
What are the differences between emphatic and reflexive pronoun?
How do we choose an intensive or reflexive pronoun in a given sentence?
What is the exact difference between an emphasis and a reflexive pronoun?
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John Kerpan
John Kerpan, a full time Latin teacher and an avid reader.
Answered Feb 23, 2018 · Author has 516 answers and 839.3k answer views
Originally Answered: What is the difference between reflexive pronoun and intensive pronoun?
Reflexive Pronoun: Refers back to the subject of the sentence, but it is only going to exists as an object.

“I look at myself”, where “I” is the subject, and “myself” is the object of “at”. This is a reflexive pronoun.
“He cut himself shaving”, where “He” is the subject, and “himself” is the direct object of the verb.
“Take care of yourself”, where and implied “you” is the subject, and the “yourself” is the object of “of”.
Note, if you take the pronoun out of the sentence, the sentence is incomplete!

Intensive Pronouns: The pronoun is simply restating the noun it is describing for emphasis. It will be
functioning as a duplicate of a noun, and could be removed from the sentence without changing the
basic meaning.

“I look at the picture myself”, where “I look at the picture” is a perfectly good sentence on its own.
“I look at the picture itself” — I did not mention this before, but note that when the word being
modified by the pronoun is not the subject, there is no way for it to ever be a reflexive pronoun.
“She cut the turkey herself”, where “she cut the turkey” is its own complete idea.
“Take care of the child yourself”, where “Take care of the child” is a perfectly fin sentence on its own.

Reflexive Intensive
1. The queen bought herself a dog.

The queen bought something for herself. She is both completing and receiving the action in the
sentence.

 The queen bought the dog herself.

The intensive pronoun herself merely emphasizes the fact that the queen (not someone else) was the
one who bought the dog.

Notice how the meaning changes when we remove the reflexive pronoun:

The queen bought herself a dog.

Did the queen buy the dog for herself, or did she buy it for someone else? Without the reflexive
pronoun, there's no way to know for sure.

If the intensive pronoun is removed, the meaning doesn't change:

The queen bought the dog herself.

The queen still bought the dog regardless of whether the intensive pronoun is in the sentence or not.

Reflexive and emphatic pronouns exercise

MAY 9, 2012 - pdf

Fill in the blanks using appropriate reflexive and emphatic pronouns.

1. She washes her clothes …………………..

herself
her
herselves
2. We enjoyed ………………….. at the party.
ourself
ourselves
3. The little boy sat by …………………
himself
him
himselves
4. He absented ………………… from the class.
himself
himselves
him
5. The minister …………………… said this.
himself
him
himselves
6. She was so much in love with …………………… that she thought of none else.
her
herself
herselves
7. Betrayed by his friends, he killed …………………..
herself
himself
themselves
8. Love thy neighbor as …………………
yourself
thyself
yourselves
9. He …………………… told me this.
himself
themselves
him
10. You …………………… know better than anybody else.
yourself
yourselves
your
11. He ..................................... is responsible for this.
himself
themselves
himselves
12. She is old enough to dress ................................... now.
her
herself
herselves
13. The manager spoke to me ....................................
him
himself
himselves
14. The house ....................................... is nice, but the garden is small.
itself
themselves
thatself
Answers
1. She washes her clothes herself.

2. We enjoyed ourselves at the party.

3. The little boy sat by himself.

4. He absented himself from the class.

5. The minister himself said this.

6. She was so much in love with herself that she thought of none else.

7. Betrayed by friends, he killed himself.

8. Love thy neighbor as thyself.

9. He himself told me this.

10. You yourself know better than anybody else.

11. He himself is responsible for this.

12. She is old enough to dress herself now.

13. The manager spoke to me himself.

14. The house itself is nice, but the garden is small.