Pronouns

Reflexive Pronouns

Myself, yourself, himself, herself, themselves - when you do it to you.

Mastered by: Myself and yourself around 4
Practice items: 53
Sections: 7

Play it

Each one opens full screen, already set to this skill.

The rule, explainedShow ↓

When someone does something to themselves, or does it alone, the word ends in "-self" or "-selves".

I did it myself. She read it herself. We cleaned it ourselves. They built it themselves.

I made my bed by myself.
They finished it themselves.

Watch for: "Hisself" and "theirselves" - built from the wrong half of the word. Still typical at five.

What this skill is

A reflexive pronoun is what English uses when the doer and the receiver are the same person: she dressed herself, I hurt myself. They also do a second job, adding emphasis - "I did it myself" - which is the same word doing something quite different, and worth separating in practice.

What to expect

The predictable errors are "hisself" and "theirselves", and both are perfectly logical: the child has spotted that myself and yourself are built from the possessive (my + self, your + self) and applied that rule to he and they. English switches to the object form partway through the set, for no good reason.

Try this at home

Self-care routines are full of these. Dressing, washing, buckling a seatbelt, pouring a drink - narrate them as they happen: "You did it yourself!" It also happens to be the vocabulary of growing independence, which children are usually pleased to talk about.

When to refer

Still saying hisself or theirselves after about 6, or no reflexives at all by 5.

Print it

Reflexive Pronouns worksheet53 items across 7 sections, with answer key · PDF

Put it into practice

Tap any item below to open it full screen, one at a time, so a child can answer without reading the answer first.

These activities are a starting point, not the practice itself. A structured task is a good way to introduce a form and to find out whether a child has it yet. What actually moves it into everyday speech is using it in the real world and in ordinary play — which means the four things below matter more than finishing the list.

Recast
Say their sentence back correctly, without asking them to repeat it. Child: “he goed.” You: “he went! Where did he go?”
Expand
Add one or two words to what they said and hand it back. Child: “big truck.” You: “a big red truck!”
Simplify what you ask
Cut a long instruction into single steps and say them in the order they happen, rather than repeating the long one louder.
Follow their lead
Use whatever they are already playing with. A form practiced on something they chose is the one that shows up again tomorrow.

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