As we mentioned in the previous section, in most sentences, somebody does something to someone else, for example:

I love him
He told her a story

However, sometimes people (or things) do something to themselves and this is when you can use reflexive pronouns.

I love myself
He introduced himself at the party.

Use a reflexive pronoun when the subject and the object in a sentence refer to the same person or thing. A reflexive pronoun indicates that the person who is doing the action of the verb is also the recipient of the same action.

Kim looked at herself in the mirror
(the subject and the object are the same)

Kim looked at her in the mirror
(the subject and the object are different. Kim is looking at someone else –a woman- in the mirror)

Look at the next comparative chart:

He accidentally cut himself while he was chopping the vegetables
She bought a present for herself
The dog is scratching himself
They injured themselves

We can use reflexive pronoun as a direct object with most transitive verbs  but the most common are:

Another way of using reflexive pronouns is when we use them for emphasis, in this case they are referred to as intensive pronouns:

The author signed the book for me herself.
I did it myself.
I spoke to the president himself.
(speaker emphasizes that he spoke to the president personally, NOT to somebody else
I always do my homework myself. (Nobody helps me.)

There are a number of verbs in English which we rarely or never use reflexive pronouns. We don’t use reflexive pronouns after verbs which describe things people usually do for themselves or everyday activities such as wash, shave or dress.

He washed himself in cold water.
He always shaves  himself before going out.

They include:  adapt, complain, concentrate, get up, hide, lie down, meet, move, relax, remember, shave, shower, sit down.

After a preposition of place or location we use an object pronoun and not a reflexive pronoun:

He put the backpack next to him.

We use verb reflexive pronoun  object when we do something  for ourselves
She cooked herself a quiche
We taught ourselves French

We use verb object reflexive pronoun when we want to emphasize that another did not do the action (or assist):

I repaired the tire myself
They did the homework themselves
My brother spoke to his boss himself about a rise

Use ‘by’ myself, yourself or himself, when we are alone or not with another person. When we want to show that someone did something alone and or without any help.

Jason went to the party by himself
His children were swimming by themselves
She lived by herself
Emma was sitting by herself