5. Reflective Pronouns

8/13/2019 5. Reflective Pronouns

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The Grammar Business 2001 Glenrothes College

With down

Phrasal verbs


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Gramatical structure

Sit

Write

Lie

Calm verb + preposition

Slow turn

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Meaning of Down as

preposition

DOWN: downward movement,

decrease, ending, stopping

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You are always driving so fast. ________ or you

will have an accident.

Go and ________ on the bed if youve got aheadache.

He ________ my offer of help. He wanted to do it

himself.

Could you ________ your email address? I want

to keep in touch with you.

Why dont you ________ and have a nice cup of

tea with me? I was very nervous about the test, But I ________

when I saw how easy it was.

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The Grammar Business 2001 Glenrothes College5

Reflexive pronouns are

myself

yourself

himself/herself

itself

yourselves ourselves

themselves


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They refer back to the subjectof

the sentence

Iam not so sure myself.

Sheherself has no idea who her father is.

Hedressed himself carefully.

Wedidnt arrive ourselvesuntil much, much

later.

You think Im beautiful? Youre beautifulyourself.


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Common error

Using the reflexive pronoun instead of

the personal pronoun as the object of

the sentence e.g. He gave it to myself

Which should be He gave it to me.


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So its wrong to say

Jane was very sure of myself

It doesnt make sense.

Jane can be sure of herself, but not of

myself.

The reflexive pronoun has to agree with

the subjectof the sentence, which in

this case, is Jane.


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It is correct to say

Jane was very sure of herself - and very sure

of me.

She was fooling herself actually, but shewasnt fooling me.

Thats what I told myself at the time.

Later, it transpired that we had both, to someextent, been deceiving ourselves.


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And it is correct to say

My friend and I went out on Saturday.

But not

My friend and myself went out onSaturday.


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Whats wrong with this one?

He gave a cheque to her and to myself.


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It should be

He gave a cheque to her and to me.


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Correct the following sentences, then

compare what youve got with the

answers on the next slide He hit her, but neither myself, nor Jeremy.

The Prime Minister has informed myself of

the seriousness of the situation. The slug has slimed itself and myself too.

The King and myself are delighted to meet

yourselves.

He has informed himself but not yourselves of

the situation.


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Answers below

He hit her, but neither me,nor Jeremy.

The Prime Minister has informed meof theseriousness of the situation.

The slug has slimed itself and metoo.

The King and Iare delighted to meet you. He has informed himself but not youof the

situation.


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Health warning:

grammatical rules tend to change through

common usage

in speech, it is becoming more common to

use the reflexive pronoun (myself) instead ofthe personal pronoun (me) to add emphasis

so

you may well hear: The offer was extendedto myself.

but dont write it!


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If this still confuses you

try the exercise on Handout Five (go on yoursel son!)

Documents

5. Reflective Pronouns