Reflexive Pronoun Exercises with Picture Example Explanations
This page starts with a clear explanation of reflexive pronouns and then there are lots of free exercises for you to practice and feel confident.
What are reflexive pronouns?
In English, reflexive pronouns are words that we use when the person or thing doing the action is also the one receiving the action. Have a look at this picture to understand:
Emma is the person doing the action, but she is also the learner.
✅ Emma taught herself how to play the piano.
❌Emma taught Emma how to play the piano.
They help us from repeating the subject. Have a look at another picture:
The cat is doing the cleaning, but who is that cat cleaning?
✅ The cat is cleaning itself.
❌ The cat is cleaning the cat.
Here is a table that shows all the subjects and their reflexive pronouns.
Practice below with lots of exercises!
Exercise 1
Put the correct pronoun in the gap.
1 .
My friend David hurt ________ when he tried to lift too weight at the gym.
2 .
We enjoyed ________ at the office party and everybody had a lot of fun.
✅ ourselves
3 .
I always treat _______ to a cup of coffee and snack at the cafe if I work hard!
✅ myself
4 .
She blamed _______ when she lost the football match. She wanted to make the team happy.
✅ herself
5 .
Please help __________ to the food on the table. Everybody can enjoy and eat as much as they want!
✅ yourselves
6 .
Rowing team captain to his assistant:
“The need to make _________ work harder!”
✅ themselves
7 .
Angry mum: Did you enjoy _________ last night? You were very noisy when came home!
✅ yourself
8 .
The phone turned _______ off when the battery was empty.
✅ itself
9 .
They prepared _______ for the big exam by studying all week.
✅ themselves
10 .
When you are in a relationship, you need to express __________ honestly.
✅ yourself
11 .
Dan injured _______ during the basketball game this summer.
✅ himself
12 .
Parent to child: Don’t compare ________ to others on social media because people often pretend their lives are better.
✅ yourself
13 .
Rebecca pushed _______ to beat her time record in the race.
✅ herself
ℹ️ In this example, ‘pushing’ means trying very hard.
14 .
When they arrived at the restaurant, they helped _________ to lots of food in the buffet.
✅themselves
15 .
You need to have more confidence and believe in ___________!
✅ yourself
16 .
When the dog was left in the house, it barked to ________ because it was bored.
✅ itself
17 .
This weekend I will challenge _________ and try to do more exercise at the gym.
✅ myself
18 .
The class taught _________ a new song for Christmas.
✅ themselves
19 .
We enjoyed _________ when we went on our holiday to Hawaii.
✅ ourselves
20 .
When I left hospital and arrived home, I began to feel more like _______.
✅ myself
