Virtuous English AcademyPronouns and Possessives in English (B1)
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This lesson pulls together the full pronoun system — subject, object, possessive and reflexive — so you can refer to people and things clearly and avoid repeating nouns.
At B1 the pronoun system extends beyond subject and object forms into reflexives, reciprocals, and the patterns that let you avoid repetition elegantly. These are what make writing flow rather than lurch from one repeated noun to the next.
Reflexive pronouns — myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves — are used when the subject and object are the same person: She taught herself Italian. They also have an emphatic use that is quite different: I spoke to the director himself, where the pronoun simply stresses the noun.
The most common B1 error is overusing reflexives with verbs that do not need them. English says I feel better, I relax and I concentrate, whereas French, Spanish, German and Italian all use reflexive forms here. Adding myself to these verbs is a direct transfer error and immediately marks a text as non-native.
How to form Pronouns and Possessives
| Subject | Object | Possessive adj. | Possessive pron. | Reflexive |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I | me | my | mine | myself |
| you (sing.) | you | your | yours | yourself |
| he | him | his | his | himself |
| she | her | her | hers | herself |
| it | it | its | — | itself |
| we | us | our | ours | ourselves |
| you (pl.) | you | your | yours | yourselves |
| they | them | their | theirs | themselves |
Pronouns and Possessives: the key rules
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Reflexive pronouns (myself, yourself, themselves) appear when subject and object are the same person.
She taught herself Italian.
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Each other expresses reciprocity — A does it to B and B to A.
They text each other every day.
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One/ones replaces a countable noun already mentioned.
I'll take the blue one; the striped ones are too loud.
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Indefinite 'you' and 'they' speak generally; formal writing prefers one.
You never know. They say the winters are hard there.
When to use Pronouns and Possessives
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Subject and object are the same
The core reflexive use — the action comes back to the doer.
He cut himself shaving. They blamed themselves for the delay.
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Emphasis
A reflexive placed after a noun or at the end of a clause stresses that person specifically.
The manager himself apologised. I'll do it myself.
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By + reflexive meaning alone
A fixed expression meaning without help or without company.
She built the shed by herself. I prefer travelling by myself.
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Reciprocal actions
Each other and one another describe an action exchanged between two or more people.
They wrote to each other every week.
Reflexive vs. reciprocal
These describe different situations, and confusing them changes the meaning substantially.
themselves — each person acts on themselves
Each individual is both the doer and the receiver of their own action.
They looked at themselves in the mirror. (each saw their own reflection)
each other — they act on one another
The action passes between the people, not back to each individually.
They looked at each other. (each looked at the other person)
Pronouns and Possessives in example sentences
- I taught myself to code.Subject and object are the same person.
- Help yourselves to the food.Plural reflexive addressed to several people.
- The system updates itself automatically.Reflexive with a non-human subject.
- She wrote the whole report herself.Emphatic use — nobody helped her.
- We managed by ourselves.by + reflexive meaning without help.
- The twins often argue with each other.Reciprocal — the action passes between them.
- I feel much better today.No reflexive — a common transfer error would add myself.
- That book of yours is still on my desk.of + possessive pronoun.
Pronouns and Possessives in a real conversation
Note the emphatic reflexives and the one reciprocal — they do quite different jobs.
Nadia:Did someone help you with the presentation?
Erik:No, I did it myself. It took all weekend.
Nadia:The director mentioned it to me herself.
Erik:Really? We've barely spoken to each other this month.
Nadia:She was impressed. Don't undersell yourself.
Erik:Thanks. I taught myself the software last year, actually.
Common mistakes (and how to fix them)
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I bought for myself a new coat. (unnatural order)
I bought myself a new coat.
The reflexive follows the verb directly in the double-object pattern.
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They looked at themselves and smiled. (meaning at one another)
They looked at each other and smiled.
Themselves means each looked in a mirror; reciprocal action needs each other.
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My phone is broken, so I need a new it.
My phone is broken, so I need a new one.
After an adjective, the substitute for a countable noun is one, never it.
Practise Pronouns and Possessives today
The over-use error is the priority — check every reflexive is genuinely needed.
- Write six sentences where the subject and object are genuinely the same person.
- Write four emphatic sentences placing a reflexive after a noun or at the end.
- Write four sentences with each other and four with a reflexive, showing the contrast.
- Correct these: I feel myself tired. — They met themselves at the café. — She concentrated herself.
Pronouns and Possessives: frequently asked questions
Why is I feel myself tired wrong?
Because feel is not reflexive in English, unlike its equivalents in French, Spanish, German and Italian. English simply says I feel tired. The same applies to relax, concentrate, hurry, meet, remember and wake up — all of which take reflexive forms in other European languages but not in English. This is one of the most recognisable transfer errors at B1.
What is the difference between each other and one another?
Traditionally each other was used for two people and one another for three or more, but that distinction has largely disappeared. Modern usage treats them as interchangeable, with each other being far more common in speech. One another sounds slightly more formal. Both take a possessive with an apostrophe before -s: each other's opinions.
When is a reflexive pronoun emphatic rather than reflexive?
When removing it leaves the sentence complete and grammatical. In She hurt herself, removing herself breaks the sentence, so it is a true reflexive. In She wrote it herself, removing herself leaves She wrote it, which still works — so the pronoun is emphatic. Emphatic reflexives can sit either directly after the noun or at the end of the clause.
Is themselves or themself correct for a single person?
Themself is increasingly used with singular they for a person of unknown or unspecified gender: Someone has hurt themself. It remains less established than singular they itself, and some style guides still prefer themselves in that position. Both are understood; themselves is the safer choice in exams, while themself is gaining acceptance in general writing.