Reflexive Pronouns Should Not Be Involuntary Reactions

This is the what the sound of fingernails (think long, acrylic) scraping against a chalkboard would look like:

hisself

theirself/theirselves

themself

STEP AWAY FROM THESE WANNA-BE PRONOUNS! If you’re using them as dialogue for a character who speaks non-standard English, fine. Otherwise no, no, and no.

The STANDARD reflexives are: myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, and themselves. Think of these pronouns as mirrors that turn back on themselves by turning the action back on the subject.

I [the subject] paid myself [reflexive pronoun that points back to the subject “I”]

a million dollars in Monopoly money.

My sister awarded herself the same amount.

If you use a reflexive pronoun in a sentence, there must be a person the pronoun can “reflect.” Remember the mirror? It needs a person [subject] to turn the action back on in the sentence. Each of the sentences below is incorrect because there is no “I” in the sentence for the “myself” to reflect.

If you have questions, contact myself.

Bob and myself went to the show.

A reflexive pronoun can be used for emphasis (in which case it becomes an intensive pronoun):

I myself am thrilled Wii makes games for adults.

You yourself may not be so happy to have such a program.

So, now that you can flex your pronoun muscles…go forth and write!