Possessive and Reflexive Pronouns

Possessive pronouns are words like mine, yours, ours, his, hers, theirs. Possessive pronouns attribute ownership to somebody.

How do you use possessive pronouns in your sentences?

mine
These new dresses are mine. (It means I am the owner of the dresses)

yours
Is this umbrella yours? (It means Are you the owner of this umbrella?)

ours
All the furniture in the house is ours. (It means We are the owner of the furniture)

his
This valuable fountain pen is his. (It means He is the owner of the fountain pen)

hers
The high-heeled shoes are hers. ( It means She is the owner of the shoes)

theirs
The tools are theirs. (It means They are the owner of the tools)

Reflexive pronouns are words like myself, yourself/yourselves, ourselves, himself, herself, themselves, itself. Reflexive pronouns are used when the subject and object of the sentence are the same person. The reflexive pronoun "itself" is used with animals.

Reflexive pronouns can be used in three ways.

as objects of verbs
as objects of prepositions
to emphasize the subject of the sentence

Example sentences
I bought myself some new clothes. (as object of the verb "bought")

I bought some new clothes for myself. (as object of the preposition "for")

I myself paid for the new clothes. (used to emphasize the subject "I")

If I don't buy some new clothes, I'll have to make the clothes by myself. (It means I don't have anyone to help me make the clothes.)

Be careful not to cut yourself. (as object of the verb "cut")

You can cut a piece of cake for yourself. (as object of the preposition "for")

You yourself should have informed the staff to attend the meeting.
(used to emphasize the subject "You")

You must write down the outcome of the meeting yourself. (It means your are not allowed to ask your colleague to help you write down the outcome of the meeting.)

"You should remind yourselves to bring some food and drinks," the teacher told the students. (as object of the verb "remind")

You have to bring some food and drinks for yourselves. (as object of the preposition "for")

You yourselves have to bring some food and drinks. (used to emphasize the subject "You")

You have to prepare the food and drinks yourselves. (It means you must not ask anyone to help you prepare the food and drinks.)

Last evening we treated ourselves to a delicious meal. (as object of the verb "treated")

We ordered a large plate of scallops and two dishes of fried vegetables for ourselves. (as object of the preposition "for")

We ourselves paid for the meal. (used to emphasize the subject "We")

We are sure we can also cook such delicious scallops and vegetables by ourselves.
(It means we don't need anyone to show us how to cook the scallops and vegetables.)

Last summer Henry made himself a large kite. (as object of the verb "made")

Last summer Henry made a large kite for himself. (as object of the preposition "for")

Last summer Henry himself made a large kite. (used to emphasize the subject "Henry")

Henry made the kite by himself. (It means Henry didn't get help from anyone.)

Sharon baked herself a large fruit cake yesterday. (as object of the verb "baked")

Sharon baked a large fruit cake for herself yesterday. (as object of the preposition "for")

Sharon herself baked the fruit cake. (used to emphasize the subject "Sharon")

Sharon baked the fruit cake by herself. (It means Sharon didn't get help from anyone.)

The children helped themselves to lots of cakes and biscuits. (as object of the verb "helped")

The children forgot to bring some drinks for themselves. (as object of the preposition "for")

The children themselves went to a nearby shop to buy some drinks. (used to emphasize the subject "The children")

The children managed to eat all the cakes and biscuits by themselves.
(It means the children didn't give or offer the cakes and biscuits to anyone. They ate up everything.)

The hyena pounced itself on the rabbit. (as object of the verb "pounced)")

The hyena caught the rabbit for itself. (as object of the preposition "for")

The hyena itself caught the rabbit. (used to emphasize the subject "The hyena")

The hyena caught the rabbit by itself. (It means the hyena didn't get help from the other hyenas.)

By Susan L
On 2/05/2010 11:56:00 PM
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Possessive and Reflexive Pronouns

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