There are 9 parts of speech or word classes in English language:
– nouns
– pronouns
– determiners
– verbs
– prepositions
– adjectives
– adverbs
– conjunctions
– interjections

Nouns are a group of words that we use to name:
– people: man, woman, teacher, John, Mary
– animals: cat, rabbit, horse, elephant
– plants: palm tree, coconut trees, grass, wheat, corn
– places: home, office, town, village, England
– concrete objects: chair, table, ball, water, money, sugar
– abstract objects: truth, lies, happiness, sorrow, time, friendship

Pronouns replaces nouns so that we don’t have to repeat them over and over again.

Do you like the manager?
I don’t like the manager.
The manager is not friendly.
(‘The manager’ is a noun phrase.)

By using pronouns, we can say:
Do you like the manager?
I don’t like him.
He is not friendly.

Do you know Jane?
I have a letter for Jane.
Please give this letter to Jane.
(‘Jane’ is a noun.)

By using pronouns, we can say:
Do you know Jane?
I have a letter for her.
Please give it to her.

There are 8 types of pronouns:
– Personal Pronouns
– Demonstrative Pronouns
– Possessive Pronouns
– Interrogative Pronouns
– Reflexive Pronouns
– Reciprocal Pronouns
– Indefinite Pronouns
– Relative Pronouns

Reflexive pronouns are used to refer back to the subject of the clause or sentence:
– clause/sentence object = clause/sentence subject

I saw him yesterday.
him = object pronoun

I saw myself in the mirror.
myself = reflexive pronoun

There are 8 reflexive pronouns:

singular
I -> myself
you -> yourself
he -> himself
she -> herself
it -> itself

plural
we -> ourselves
you -> yourselves
they -> themselves

ourself (wrong)
weselves (wrong)
yourself (wrong for plural)
themself (wrong)
theirselves (wrong)

Non-Reflexive
I‘m going to buy John a new novel.

Reflexive
I‘m going to buy myself a new novel.

Non-Reflexive
You need to treat John better.

Reflexive
You need to treat yourself better.

Non-Reflexive
David sent John a copy of that report.

Reflexive
David sent himself a copy of that report.

Non-Reflexive
Jane sent John a copy of that report.

Reflexive
Jane sent herself a copy of that report.

Non-Reflexive
My cat is licking the food.

Reflexive
My cat is licking itself.

Non-Reflexive
We don’t blame you.

Reflexive
We blame ourselves.

Non-Reflexive
Can you help us?

Reflexive
Can you help yourselves?

Non-Reflexive
Can they help us?

Reflexive
Can they help themselves?

by + Reflexive Pronouns

We can use the preposition by with reflexive pronouns to emphasize that something is done by the subject without the help of another person or other people.

I made this cake by myself.
You can make this cake by yourself.
John made this cake by himself.
Jane made this cake by herself.
My cat ate all the food by itself.

We made this cake by ourselves.
They made this cake by themselves.
You can make this cake by yourselves.

We use reciprocal pronouns when the subjects of a sentence do a similar action.

A is talking to B.
B is talking to A.
A and B are talking to each other.
A and B are talking to one another.

There are 2 reciprocal pronouns and they both mean the same:
– each other
– one another

How to use reciprocal pronouns:
– there should be at least 2 people/things
– we cannot use reciprocal pronouns with only one singular subject (I, you (singular), he, she, it)
– all subjects must do the same action

John and Mary love each other.
They love each other.

Peter and I hate each other.
We hate each other.

You and Tom must help each other. (You = singular)
You must help each other. (You = plural)

The ten prisoners blamed one another.
They blamed one another.

The four of us were fighting one another.
We were fighting one another.

We can use reciprocal pronouns with possessive ‘s.

My neighbor and I helped to look after each other’s children.
We helped to look after each other’s children.
We should really value one another’s time.