Pronoun

Difference Between Personal and Reflexive Pronouns for Class 5 English

In this concept, students will learn about the difference between personal and reflexive pronouns with examples and pictures. They will also study some pronouns that are explicitly used with reflexive pronouns

In this learning concept, the students will learn:

• To identify personal pronouns and reflexive pronouns.
• To find the difference between both pronouns.

Every concept for class 5 English students are explained with the help of examples, illustrations, and concept maps. Once you go through a concept, assess your learning by solving the two printable pronoun worksheets given at the end of the page.

Download the worksheets and check your answers with the worksheet solutions for the concept pronouns provided in PDF format.

Pronoun Definition

• A pronoun is a word that is used instead of a noun or a noun phrase.
• Pronouns refer to a noun that has already been mentioned in the sentence.

Example:

Instead of using the noun ‘Shreya’ again, we use the pronoun ‘She’ in the second sentence.

Pronouns can be divided into many types, but we will discuss two pronouns: personal pronouns and reflexive pronouns.

What is a Personal Pronoun?

A personal pronoun sits in place of a noun which can be a particular person or thing.

Examples:

Neha slept early today as she worked hard.

The personal pronoun ‘she’ is used to replace the proper noun. The sentence means- Neha slept early today because she (Neha) worked hard.

What is a Reflexive Pronoun?

• A reflexive pronoun is used to reflect on the subject and is usually identified by the suffix ‘self’.
• Reflexive pronouns show that the object of the verb is the same as the subject. In simple words, the doer of the action is the same as the receiver of the action.

Examples:

She invited herself to the party.

In this sentence, ‘herself’ is the reflexive pronoun, ‘she’ is the subject and ‘herself’ is the object.

Pronouns Used with Reflexive pronouns

Reflexive pronouns are words like myself, yourself, himself, herself, oneself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, and themselves. Every reflexive pronoun is used with specific pronouns. These pronouns cannot be replaced by another pronoun as the pronoun shows the gender or the singular or plural form of the noun.

• ‘Myself’ is used with singular pronoun ‘I’
• ‘Yourself’ is used with the singular pronoun ‘you.’
• ‘Yourselves’ is used with the plural pronoun ‘you.’
• ‘Himself’ is used with the singular pronoun ‘he.’
• ‘Herself’ is used with the singular pronoun ‘she.’
• ‘Itself’ is used with the singular pronoun ‘it.’
• ‘Ourselves’ is used with the plural pronoun ‘we.’
• ‘Themselves’ is used with the plural pronoun ‘them.’
• ‘Oneself’ is used with the singular pronoun ‘one.’

Difference between Personal and Reflexive Pronouns

• Both personal and reflexive pronouns have different applications.
• The purpose of a personal pronoun is to substitute a noun, whereas the purpose of a reflexive pronoun is to clarify that the subject is acting on itself.

1. Example of Personal Pronoun:

Sneha went to the market as she had to travel to the city soon.

In the above sentence, ‘she’ is the personal pronoun.

2. Example of Reflexive Pronoun:

Harry sometimes talks to himself in his sleep.

In the above example, ‘himself’ is the reflexive pronoun. Harry is talking to himself.

Common Mistakes:

While replacing any noun with a pronoun in a sentence, make sure to keep the gender in mind. The gender should be the same as the noun.

Correct and Incorrect Usage

Ravi is a nice boy; hence everybody likes him.

Ravi is a nice boy hence everybody likes her.