REFLEXIVE AND RELATIVE PRONOUNS

The pronoun is a word used in place of a noun to avoid repetition and monotony in speech or writing. In replacing the noun, however, the pronoun must reflect the gender and number of the noun.

Reflexive and relative pronouns are two different types of pronouns used in English.

1. Reflexive Pronouns

Reflexive pronouns are used when the subject and the object of a sentence refer to the same person or thing. They end in “-self” for singular forms and “-selves” for plural forms. Here are the reflexive pronouns in English:

Singular: myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself
Plural: ourselves, yourselves, themselves

Examples:
– I hurt myself while playing basketball.
– She blamed herself for the mistake.
– We should take care of ourselves.

Reflexive pronouns are used to emphasize the subject and indicate that the action is being done to the subject itself.

2. Relative Pronouns

Relative pronouns are used to introduce relative clauses, which provide additional information about a noun or pronoun in the main clause. They connect the main clause to the relative clause. Here are the relative pronouns in English:

Who, whom, whose, which, that

– “Who” is used for people.
– “Whom” is also used for people but as the object of a verb or preposition.
– “Whose” is used to indicate possession.
– “Which” is used for things or animals.
– “That” can be used for both people and things.

Examples:
– The woman who lives next door is a doctor.
– The book that I borrowed from the library is very interesting.
– This is the dog whose owner is a famous actor.

Relative pronouns help provide more information about a specific noun or pronoun in the sentence.

It’s important to note that while reflexive pronouns refer back to the subject of the sentence, relative pronouns introduce additional information and connect clauses together.

TYPES OF PRONOUN

Pronouns replace nouns perfectly and perform the roles the nouns they replace and perform

REFLECTIVE PRONOUN

These pronoun refers to reflect the subject of the sentence and also shows emphasis. They have ‘self’ ending for the singular and ‘selves’ for the plural.

Singular Plural

First person MYSELF OURSELVES

Second person YOUSELF YOURSELVES

Third person HIMSELF/HERSELF/ITSELF THEMSELVES

Example: The man killed himself

I did the work myself

People sometimes talk to themselves

RELATIVE PRONOUN

The relative pronoun are used to describe or modify an antecedent noun and also to introduce the subordinate clause to the main clause. The pronouns include WHO, WHOM, WHOSE, WHICH, THAR, WHERE, WHEN AND HOW.

Example:

The man who helped him has come.
The boy whom I told you about is crying.
The girl whose father died in an accident wanted to assist me.
I saw the book which he wrote.
She knows the boy that stole the money.
We suspected how it must have happened.
That was the time when I came in.
Mama went to the place where she first met father

EVALUATION

USE THESE PRONOUNS IN SENTENCES

I THEY OURS HERS YOURS