Download Reflexive Pronouns

Peculiarities of The Use of
The Reflexive Pronouns
English Grammar
EPh-13
Natalya Dumanska
The object of the individual task:
reflexive pronouns.
The subject: peculiarities of the use of
the reflexive pronouns.
The aim: to find out peculiarities of the
use of the reflexive pronouns.
The task: using the scientific literature,
to show the topicality of this problem,
to study in which cases do we use
reflexive pronouns.
Reflexive pronoun is a pronoun
that shows that the action of the
verb is occurring to the subject
of the sentence.
e.g. I washed myself
e.g. He looks at himself in the
mirror .
Reflexive pronouns have the
categories of person, number and
gender in the third person singular.
Singular
Plural
1st
person
2nd
person
3rd person
myself
yourself
himself,
herself,
itself
ourselves yourselves themselves
The use of the reflexive pronouns:
1.We use reflexive pronouns as the direct object or
indirect object of the verb when we want to say
that the object is the same person or thing as the
subject of the verb in the same clause:
e.g. John taught
himself.
e.g. She tried to claw
and wriggle herself
up the eight-inch
riser to the second
step but could’nt
make it. (p.30)
2.Most transitive verbs can take a
reflexive pronoun:
e.g. I blame myself
for not paying
attention.
e.g. In a shy but
gentlemanly way,
this tall, slim man
introduced himself
and began the
usual preliminaries
of a job interview.
( p. 391)
3.We can use reflexive pronouns at the
end of a clause to emphasize that
someone did something without any
help from anyone else:
e.g. He is doing his
homework himself.
4.We use reflexive pronouns after
nouns or pronouns to emphasize the
person or thing that we are referring
to:
e.g. I myself have
never read the
book.
e.g. … I myself one
of the pensioners
upon the fund left
by our noble
benefactor. (p.213)
5.After be and related verbs such as feel,
look, seem reflexive pronouns can be used
to describe feelings, emotions and states.
e.g. I do not know
what’s the matter with
me. I’m not myself
today.
e.g. He heard the sound,
felt the blow, felt
himself falling
forward, and his hand
closed on the livingroom curtains, the
shards and fragments
of glass showering on
to the floor. ( p. 78 )
6.We can use reflexive pronouns with “ by ”
to say that someone does something
without any help from other people:
e.g. He carried this
buckets by himself.
e.g. I got a herd of
over a hundred of
a canyon by myself
and drove them
down to the river
with the aid of one
dog. (p.133)
7.We can also use “ on my own”, on
your own, and so on, to say that
someone is alone or does something
without any help:
e.g. We were in the park on our own.
8.We can use “ all” for emphasis:
e.g. Did you put those shelves up all by
yourself?
We don’t use reflexive
pronouns:
1. There are a number of verbs in English
with which we rarely or never use reflexive
pronouns.
They include : adapt, behave, complain,
concentrate, get up, hide, meet, move,
relax, sit down.
2. After a preposition of place or location we
use a personal pronoun and not a reflexive
pronoun.
e.g. He put the backpack next to him.
Conclusion
So, reflexive pronoun is a pronoun that shows that
the action of the verb is occurring to the
subject of the sentence.
We use reflexive pronouns in such cases:
1.As the direct object or indirect object of the verb
when we want to say that the object is the
same person or thing as the subject of the
verb in the same clause.
2.With transitive verbs.
3. At the end of a clause to emphasize that
someone did something without any help from
anyone else.
4. After nouns or pronouns to emphasize the
person or thing that we are referring to.
5. After be and related verbs such as feel, look,
seem to describe feelings, emotions and
states.
6. With “ by ” to say that someone does something
without any help from other people.
The list of literature
• Alexeyeva I. Theoretical English Grammar
Course. – Vinnytsya: Nova Knyha, 2007. – 328p.
• Collins Cobuild. Student’s Grammar. Moscow, AST
“Astrel”,2003. 255p.
• Ganshina M.A., N.M. Vasilevska. English
Grammar. – Higher School.Publishing
House.547p.
• Houghton Mifflin English “Grammar and
Composition”. Boston. – 1984. 632p.
• Kauschanska V.L. English Grammar. –
Moscov,2000. – 318p.
• Parashchuk V. “English Grammar. Upper
Intermediate”.– Vinytsja. – 2002. 238 p.
• Thomson A.J. ,Martinet A.V. “A Practical English
Grammar”.Oxford University Press. 383 p.