Examples of Indefinite and Reflexive Pronouns

Can you name some examples of indefinite and reflexive pronouns? Do you know what they are? Before we look at examples, let's have a little refresher.

Pronouns

Do you remember the eight parts of speech? Well, pronouns are one of the eight parts of speech. They are words that take the place of nouns. (Nouns name people, places, things, or ideas.) Pronouns can do all of the things that nouns can do.

There are many different types of pronouns. Let's focus on two types, shall we?

Indefinite Pronouns

These are pronouns that don't refer to a specific person or thing. The prefix "in" means "not." That will help you to remember that these pronouns are not definite.

Here are a couple of example sentences with indefinite pronouns.

Everyone laughed at the joke.

Both of the boys brought her flowers.

Notice that in both of those sentences, we're not sure which nouns the pronouns are replacing. They did not specify which nouns they replaced. They are not definite.

Examples of Indefinite Pronouns

Here is a list of indefinite pronouns:

each, everything, either, everyone, someone, anything, both, many, several, few, all, most, none, one, some, much

Reflexive Pronouns

Reflexive pronouns end in -self or -selves, and they always refer to the subject of the sentence.

Here are a couple of example sentences using reflexive pronouns:

The baby looked at herself in the mirror.

I bought myself a cupcake.

Notice that the pronouns herself and myself end in -self, and they both refer back to the subject of the sentence, baby and I.

Examples of Reflexive Pronouns

Here is a list of reflexive pronouns:

myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves

Tip: Don't Confuse Reflexive Pronouns with Intensive Pronouns

Intensive pronouns are another type of pronoun that end in -self and -selves, but they are used differently than reflexive pronouns.

Remember that reflexive pronouns always refer to the subject, and they are a necessary part of the sentence. Intensive pronouns are only used to add emphasis to another noun or pronoun (not necessarily the subject), and they are not a necessary part of the sentence.

Here are two examples of intensive pronouns:

The trip itself was extremely fun, but some of the people on it were grouchy.

She asked me herself.

Do you see how we could take out both itself and herself from those sentences and they would still make sense? They aren't a necessary part of the sentence, so they are intensive pronouns.

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You'll also find lists of the English parts of speech as well as lessons and exercises to help you learn or teach proper grammar.

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