What are emphatic pronouns also known as?

Emphatic pronouns are also known as Intensive Pronouns because the intensify the role of the subject in the sentence.

What is difference between reflexive and emphatic pronouns?

Reflexive pronouns always hold the position of the object in a sentence and they are an integral part of the sentence (they cannot be removed). Here is an example: "He saw himself in the mirror." Emphatic pronouns on the other hand work as an adverb in the sentence. (usually come before the verb or at the end of the sentence) and removing them will not harm the grammatical structure of the sentence. here is an example: "He did his homework himself ." or "He himself did his homework."

Emphatic Pronouns

emphatic pronouns personal pronouns reflexive pronouns

'Emphatic pronouns' are used to refer to a noun or a pronoun mentioned earlier. So they give more detailed information.

"Emphatic Pronouns" in the English Grammar

What Are Emphatic Pronouns?

The emphatic pronouns (also called intensive pronouns) are the same as reflexive pronouns but they are used in a different way. Their function is similar to that of an adverb.

English Emphatic Pronouns

	Emphatic pronouns
first-person singular	myself
second-person singular	yourself
third-person singular (F)	herself
third-person singular (M)	himself
third-person singular (N)	itself
first-person plural	ourselves
second-person plural	yourselves
third-person plural	themselves

Differences between Emphatic and Reflexive Pronouns

Difference #1

Reflexive pronouns show that the action of the subject reflects upon the doer. However, an emphatic pronoun simply emphasizes the doer of the action.

Mike cut himself while shaving this morning. (Reflexive)

Here, the subject (Mike) and object (himself) refer to the same person.

Mike himself cut the carrots into thin strips. (Emphatic)

Here, the emphatic pronoun 'himself' just emphasizes the subject 'he'.

Using the Emphatic Pronoun 'Himself' in a Sentence

Difference #2

We can remove an emphatic pronoun from the sentence and the whole meaning would not be compromised. On the other hand, a reflexive pronoun cannot be omitted from the sentence. If we leave out the reflexive pronoun, the sentence would not make complete sense.

~~Mike~~ ~~cut~~ while shaving this morning.

Without the reflexive pronoun 'himself', the sentence would not make sense.

Mike cut the carrots into thin strips.

Without the emphatic pronoun 'himself', the sentence still makes perfect sense.

How to Use Them?

The emphatic pronouns normally come after the pronoun or noun to emphasize. We do not use these as the subject or the object of a verb.

Sarah called the principal herself.

Here, the emphatic pronoun 'herself' puts emphasis that 'she' made the call.

Prince William himself attended the ball.

In this example, 'Prince William' is the emphasized noun. We call it the antecedent of the emphatic pronoun.

Review

Now that you followed our article you know that reflexive pronouns are the same as emphatic pronouns, but they are used in different situations.

reflexive pronouns	intensive pronouns
they need reflexive verbs	they do not need reflexive verbs
they are essential to complete the meanings	they are not essential to have a meaningful sentence
they reflect back the action upon the subject	they emphasize on the subject
they are used after the verb	They are not used after the verb

Object Pronouns

Pronouns that can take the place of an object are called object pronouns. In this article, you will get to know different kinds of object pronouns.

Demonstrative Pronouns

A demonstrative pronoun is a pronoun mostly used to point to something based on its distance from the speaker. In English, these pronouns have four forms.

Reflexive Pronouns

Reflexive Pronouns are used to show that the subject and object of a sentence are exactly the same person or thing or there is a direct connection between them.

Interrogative Pronouns

There are five interrogative pronouns in English. Each is used to ask a specific question. In this lesson, we will learn more about these pronouns.

Possessive Pronouns

Possessive pronouns show ownership and indicate that something belongs to someone particular. With their help, we can make a possessive phrase shorter.

Indefinite Pronouns

Indefinite pronouns refer to people or things without saying exactly who or what they are. In this lesson, we will learn more about these pronouns.

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