English 2A

REFLEXIVE PRONOUNS We often use reflexive pronouns when the subject and the object of the verb refer to the same person or thing: He  cut  himself  on the broken glass. She  made  herself  a cup of tea and sat down in front of the television. Parents  often blame  themselves  for the way their children behave. We use a reflexive pronoun to make it clear who or what is being referred to. We can use reflexive pronouns for emphasis: The director of the company wrote to us  himself  to apologise for the dreadful service.  (or  The director of the company   himself   wrote to us to apologise for the dreadful service .) We don’t use reflexive pronouns on their own as the subject of a clause, but we can use them with a noun or pronoun to emphasise the subject: Parents and teachers always pass on to children what  they themselves have been told, and this has been going on for hundreds, or even thousands of years. We often use reflexive pronouns with  by to