How often do you use words like me, ourselves, yourself, yourselves, herself, himself, itself, themselves, and oneself in your routine sentences? Maybe you could not happen to notice. Well, we use these words regularly. Sometimes to convey information and other times just to lay emphasis on an action or object.
Consider these two sentences – “You should introduce yourself to the guests” and “My mother herself prepared the lunch for us”. Did you notice the difference between the use of ‘-self’ in these two? Yes! In the first sentence, ‘yourself’ is used to convey information and simply reflect the action of the subject upon the doer. Whereas, in the second sentence ‘herself’ is used just to lay emphasis on the action of the subject. Therefore, the first sentence is an example of Reflexive Pronouns and the second one of Emphatic Pronouns. Also, note that together they are known as Compound Personal Pronouns.
Differentiating between a reflexive pronoun and an emphatic pronoun could be a little more effort. Many students tend to get confused when asked to distinguish between the two. But not anymore! We have simplified this differentiation for you with relevant examples. Have a look.
What are Reflexive Pronouns?
We use a reflexive pronoun when we refer to the subject and the object of the action as the same person, animal or thing. For instance, consider this sentence, ‘The cat covered herself with the blanket’. Here, the reflexive pronoun is ‘herself’. It shows that the action is performed on oneself. That is, the animal performed the action of covering herself.
Therefore, reflexive pronouns are formed when we add the suffixes self or selves to simple to simple pronouns such as my, her, him, it, our, them, etc. when the subject and the object refer to the same person.
Examples of Reflexive Pronouns
| Reflexive Pronouns | Examples of use in sentences |
| Herself | Susie hurt herself while cutting the apple. |
| Himself | The little kid dressed himself and went out to play. |
| Yourself | You can achieve your goals by disciplining yourself. |
| Yourselves | Kindly help yourselves with the project work. |
| Itself | The computer is restarting itself. |
| Myself | I quickly made a cup of hot coffee for myself. |
| Ourselves | We found ourselves mesmerized by the sight of the sunset. |
| Themselves | The naughty boys fell in the trap and fooled themselves. |
What are Emphatic Pronouns?
Just like Reflexive Pronouns, Emphatic Pronouns are compound personal pronouns and they too refer the object of the action back to the subject. So, what’s different between the two? Well, Emphatic Pronouns are used just for the sake of laying emphasis and highlighting the actions of the subject. Note here that we cannot use Emphatic Pronouns as subjects.
Examples of Emphatic Pronouns
| Emphatic Pronouns | Examples in sentences |
| Herself | Kate herself completed her homework. |
| Himself | George answered the call himself. |
| Yourself | You will yourself regret quitting this brilliant opportunity. |
| Yourselves | Kindly get yourselves seated in the front rows. |
| Itself | My house itself needs renovation. |
| Myself | I myself need to complete my assignments before the deadline. |
| Ourselves | Our team achieved the goals ourselves, with no one’s help. |
| Themselves | They themselves are responsible for all the mess they created. |
Difference Between Reflexive and Emphatic Pronouns
Reflexive pronouns are used to refer back to the subject in a sentence or clause, where-as Emphatic pronouns are used to emphasize their antecedents (Noun or Pronoun).
Reflexive pronouns are an essential part of a sentence, where-as Emphatic pronouns are a non-essential part of a sentence.
Reflexive pronouns are used as the object of a verb, where-as Emphatic pronouns are used right after the noun they are emphasizing.
| REFLEXIVE PRONOUNS | EMPHATIC PRONOUNS |
| I have arranged it myself. | I myself have arranged it. |
| Cinderella cleaned the room herself. | Cinderella herself cleaned the room. |
| She has opened the box herself. | She herself has opened the box. |
| We spoke to him ourselves. | We ourselves spoke to him. |
| They have never done it themselves. | They themselves have never done it. |
| The students have gathered here themselves. | The students themselves have gathered here. |
Conclusion
In case of Reflexive Pronouns, there is a necessity to use them, whereas emphatic pronouns are used to make writing or conversations more interesting and meaningful. However, as often happens in life, too much of a good thing can be bad. Similarly, it can produce a negative impression or can create a muddle if we use too many Emphatic Pronouns in our sentences.
This was indeed an interesting and helpful piece of information, wasn’t it! Keep exploring English Bix as we have got plenty of new and exciting facts for you. Not to forget, the remarkably designed activity worksheets and printables will help you practice exercises and have some fun time as well. Happy learning!
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