Here's a breakdown:
* What they are: Words like *myself*, *yourself*, *himself*, *herself*, *itself*, *ourselves*, *yourselves*, and *themselves*.
* Their purpose: To show that the subject of a sentence is also the object of the verb.
* How they work: They reflect back to the subject, emphasizing that the action is performed by the subject on itself.
Examples:
* She hurt herself while playing. (The subject *she* is performing the action of hurting on herself.)
* We built ourselves a treehouse. (The subject *we* built the treehouse for themselves.)
* The dog scratched itself behind the ear. (The subject *dog* is performing the action of scratching on itself.)
Key things to remember:
* Reflexive pronouns are used when the object of the verb is the same as the subject.
* They are not used as the subject of a sentence.
* They can be used for emphasis, even if the object is not technically required.
Important note: Reflexive pronouns are distinct from intensive pronouns. While both reflect back to the subject, intensive pronouns are used for emphasis and are not necessary for the grammatical correctness of the sentence.
For example:
* I did it myself. (Intensive pronoun, used for emphasis)
* I painted the house myself. (Reflexive pronoun, necessary for grammatical correctness)