Pronouns and possessives (myself/yourself/themselves etc.)

Question 1

I → me → myself
he → him → himself
she → her → herself

you → you → | yourself
| yourselves

we → us → ourselves
they → them → themselves

Answer 1

...I looked at myself in the mirror.
...He cut himself with a knife.
...She fell off her bike, but she didn’t hurt herself.
...Please help yourself. (one person)
...Please help yourselves. (two or more people)
...We had a good holiday.  
...We enjoyed ourselves.
...They had a nice time.
...They enjoyed themselves.

Question 2

Compare:

• me/him/them etc. → DIFFERENT people
  …SHE is looking at HIM
• myself/himself/themselves etc. → the SAME person
  …HE is looking at HIMSELF

Answer 2

…You never talk to ME.
…I didn’t pay for THEM.
…I’m sorry. Did I hurt YOU?

…Sometimes I talk to MYSELF.
…They paid for THEMSELVES.
…Be careful. Don’t hurt YOURSELF.

Question 3

by myself / by yourself etc. = alone

Answer 3

…I went on holiday by myself. (= I went alone)

…‘Was she with friends?’ ‘No, she was by herself.’

Question 4

• each other

* Compare each other and –selves:

Answer 4

…Kate and Helen are good friends. They know each other well. (= Kate knows Helen / Helen
knows Kate)
…Paul and I live near each other. (= he lives near me / I live near him)

…James and Sue looked at each other. (= he looked at her, she looked at him)
…James and Sue looked at themselves. (= he looked at himself, she looked at herself)