difference between reflexive and emphatic pronoun
Hi all,
@kmrpradeep, your friend Abhinav has very well explained the concepts of reflexive and emphatic pronouns. However, I would like to extend the discussion to explain the difference between the two with the help f examples.
We use a reflexive pronoun when we want to refer back to the subject of the sentence or clause. Reflexive pronouns end in “-self" (singular) or “-selves” (plural).
There are eight reflexive pronouns, namely myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves and themselves.
Few instances of the same are:
· He was ashamed of himself after his misconduct at school;
· Please help yourselves;
· Infants are unable to look after themselves; etc.
Emphatic pronouns, on the other hand, are used to just emphasise the action of the subject. For instance,
1. He himself ordered the birthday cake;
2. I consulted the property dealer myself, etc.
Kindly note that an emphatic pronoun can be removed from the sentence and the core meaning would not be affected. A reflexive pronoun, on the other hand, is vital. The sentence wouldn’t make complete sense or wouldn’t seem logical if you remove the reflexive pronoun.
Compare:
He himself cut the cake. He cut the cake.
He cut himself. He cut …what?
He himself cut the cake. He cut the cake.
He cut himself. He cut …what?
Thus, I hope the above explanations and the instances helped you understand the difference between the two.
@Abhinav, fantastic effort in explaining the concept!
Well done!
Best wishes to all!