Before doing this activity you may need to read the text you will find at the end
|
|
||||||||||||
| Gapped text | Items |
|---|---|
| You must love ______________________ before you can really love others | herself / myself / ourselves / -- / himself / by myself / yourself / themselves |
| They killed ______________________, so it was a mass suicide | -- / himself / myself / themselves / yourselves / by themselves / yourself |
| I was so lonely that I began talking to ______________________ | herself / ourselves / yourself / himself / myself / -- / yourselves / themselves |
| I get ______________________ up at 8 o'clock | themselves / ourselves / myself / himself / yourselves / -- / yourself |
| Don't sit ______________________ there, it's broken | ourselves / yourselves / themselves / himself / yourself / -- / myself |
| She often brushes ______________________ her hair five times a day! | themselves / himself / yourself / yourselves / myself / ourselves / -- |
| I was running, fell down and hurt ______________________ | yourself / yourselves / ourselves / himself / myself / -- / herself / by myself |
| He accidentally cut ______________________ with a knife | themselves / itself / -- / myself / yourself / himself / ourselves / by yourselves |
| When she saw the dog dancing, she laughed ______________________ | myself / yourselves / yourself / -- / themselves / herself / ourselves |
| I learned Spanish ______________________, just using CD's and watching TV | themselves / yourselves / ourselves / himself / yourself / by myself / herself / -- |
| The mouse bumped against the bell and scared ______________________ with the noise | myself / itself / yourselves / ourselves / himself / themselves / yourself / -- |
| Last month he went to Bournemouth and he is living in a little house ______________________ | himself / ourselves / by himself / -- / myself / yourselves / themselves / yourself |
| I got up, had a shower and shaved ______________________ | herself / yourself / himself / myself / itself / themselves / -- |
| The tank was empty so the car stopped ______________________ | itself / ourselves / themselves / yourself / -- / himself / herself / myself |
| When David saw here, he fell in love ______________________ immediately | itself / herself / by himself / myself / -- / himself / themselves / yourself |
| She was looking at ______________________ in the mirror | by myself / yourself / -- / ourselves / himself / herself / yourselves |
| I cut ______________________ my nails every Saturday | -- / yourself / myself / themselves / himself / yourselves / ourselves |
| I didn't invite them to the party, they invited ______________________ | myself / by themselves / themselves / -- / himself / yourself / yourselves |
| English proverb: God helps those who help ______________________ | -- / themselves / myself / yourself / yourselves / himself / by himself |
| The house burnt ______________________ down, it was totally destroyed | -- / yourself / themselves / yourself / himself / itself / myself / herself |
| Jesus said: Love your neighbour as ______________________ | -- / themselves / by yourselves / myself / itself / himself / yourself / ourselves |
| He's a handy man, his car broke down and he repaired it ______________________ | ourselves / -- / myself / themselves / by himself / yourselves / yourself |
| Annie went to the living room, sat on the sofa and slept ______________________ for 2 hours | themselves / -- / yourself / by himself / herself / ourselves / myself |
| Don't go there ______________________, it can be dangerous | ourselves / yourselves / yourself / themselves / -- / by yourself / myself / himself |
| Dear friends, it was a very difficult situation, you must forgive ______________________ for what you did | yourselves / herself / themselves / -- / yourself / himself / myself / ourselves |
singular 
MYSELF - YOURSELF - HIMSELF / HERSELF / ITSELF
plural OURSELVES - YOURSELVES - THEMSELVES
These forms are used with transitive verbs when the subject and the object are the same person (when the person doing the action and receiving the action are the same)
- I cut bread = I cut, the bread is cut
- I cut myself = I cut, I was cut
- Megan's looking at herself in the mirror = Megan is looking, and what she sees is... Megan
- please, tell me about yourselves
- We are giving ourselves a rest
- Are you talking to yourself?
- They only think about themselves Reflexive pronouns can also refer to possessives and objects
- His songs are always talking about himself
- She dressed as a zombie for Halloween, but her dress was only scaring herself
- I'm going to tell her a few things about herself
- The psychoanalyst helped me to get to know me myself better BY ONESELF means "alone, without company" or "without help"
- She is living in a flat by herself (= alone)
- Look, I did it by myself (= without help)
"All by oneself" is the emphatic form
- I learned to drive all by myself (= completely without help, just me alone)
CAREFUL !
Many verbs are used in the reflexive form in other languages, but not in English.
- This morning I didn't shave (we don't say: I shaved myself, but simply, I shaved)
- I sat on the sofa (you can: say I sat myself, but it sounds very formal or old-fashioned)
- She got dressed (not usually: she dressed herself)
- I woke up (not: I woke myself up)
- I fell down (not: I fell myself down, because the verb "to fall" is not transitive, so it has no object, so it can't use a reflexive form) But these transitive verbs which do not normally use reflexive forms, can use it when we need to make clear who is doing what to whom
- Barbers shave people who don't want to shave themselves (if you don't say "themselves", the object of that second "shave" is not clear)
- She is old enough to dress herself
- He can't bend his knees, so he can't sit himself down, he needs help. PRONOMINAL VERBS: Some languages, such as Spanish, French or Italian, use reflexive forms for many verbs even when there is no reflexive idea. In these cases you can't use a reflexive pronoun in English.
I broke my leg (I did the action, my leg received the action, so it is not a transitive idea):
- Je me suis cassé la jambe
- Me he roto la pierna
- Mi sono rotto la gamba
I remember it (I do the action, "it" is the object)
- Je me souviens
- Me acuerdo
