Reflexive pronouns

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• vwo
• Leerjaar 2

Reflexive pronouns

Today we will be learning:

1. What reflexive pronouns are
2. How to use reflexive pronouns in sentences

At the end of class, you can:

• Explain what reflexive pronouns are
• Explain why we use reflexive pronouns
• Use reflexive pronouns correctly in sentences

Wat zijn 'pronouns'? Of wat denk je dat het zijn?
Type in wat je er al over weet.

What do the following sentences have in common?

• We should take a look at ourselves.
• I have bought myself a present.
• They should be ashamed of themselves.
• You only think of yourself.
  

• Reflexive pronouns are a type of pronoun that we use to refer back to the subject.
• We only use reflexive pronouns when the object is the same as the subject.

→ Tom looked at himself in the mirror. 

→ Tom looked at Tom in the mirror.

• Emma bought her mother a bouquet of flowers.
• The object (her mother) is not the same as the subject (Emma) → we cannot use 'herself'.

What kinds of reflexive pronouns are there?

Singular:	Myself	Yourself	Himself	Herself	Itself
Plural:	Ourselves	Yourselves	Themselves	-	-

Fill in the correct reflexive pronoun.
Hello, let me introduce _________. My name is Barry Jones, the school director.

Fill in the correct reflexive pronoun.
Thanks for a great weekend. We really enjoyed _________.

Fill in the correct reflexive pronoun.
Even though she's nearly one hundred, my grandma still dresses _________.

Fill in the correct reflexive pronoun.
If you don't use a computer for a while, it will turn _________ off.

Fill in the correct reflexive pronoun.
Tom cut _________ when he was shaving this morning.

Fill in the correct reflexive pronoun.
Please be careful with that knife! You'll hurt _________.

Fill in the correct reflexive pronoun.
Jim's parents blamed _________ when he went to prison.

Fill in the correct reflexive pronoun.
Ladies and gentlemen, you must prepare _________ for some bad news.

Reflexive pronouns for emphasis

We can also use reflexive pronouns to put emphasis (nadruk) on something. 

E.g. to show that something was done without any help:

 → The children got dressed all by themselves. 

Or to show that someone was alone:

→ He lived by himself in an enormous house.

Or to put extra emphasis on the person we're referring to:

→ Sir Paul McCartney himself sang the final song.

When not to use reflexive pronouns

• We do not use reflexive pronouns after prepositions of place (voorzetsels):                                → He had a suitcase beside himself.
• We do not use reflexive pronouns after 'with' when it means 'accompanied by':                                              → She brought a few friends with herself.

The new university was opened by the president __________.

1. themselves
2. himself
3. ourselves
4. itself

Sophie took her parents with __________ on vacation.

1. herself
2. me
3. her
4. myself

There was a small cat with a huge dog next to __________.

1. it
2. himself
3. you
4. itselves

I'm sorry, I don't have cash on __________. Can I pay by card?

1. myself
2. us
3. me
4. herself

They have a huge garden, but the house __________ is quite small.

1. it
2. themselves
3. ourselves
4. itself

What are reflexive pronouns?

Why do we use reflexive pronouns?