Sometimes the person who does an action and the person who receives it are the same. You cut the vegetables, and by accident you also cut your finger. English has special words for this: myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves. If you say 'I cut me', the sentence sounds wrong, because English expects 'I cut myself' when the two people are the same.

English also has a neat pair of phrases for actions that go both ways between people: 'each other' and 'one another'. 'We helped each other' means I helped you and you helped me. These little tools come up constantly in daily life — talking about accidents, health, feelings, and relationships — so learning them makes your everyday stories much clearer.

Reflexive pronouns are the '-self' words. They point back to the subject of the sentence. The form depends on the subject: I → myself, you → yourself, he → himself, she → herself, it → itself, we → ourselves, you (plural) → yourselves, they → themselves. Notice the plural forms end in -selves, not -selfs: ourselves, yourselves, themselves.

The main rule is simple: when the subject and the object are the same person or thing, use a reflexive. 'She looked at herself in the mirror' — she is both the looker and the person seen. Compare: 'She looked at her' means she looked at a different woman. The reflexive tells the listener the action stays with the subject; the normal object pronoun sends the action to someone else.

Some verbs love reflexives: hurt yourself, enjoy yourself, introduce yourself, teach yourself, help yourself, burn yourself. But be careful — many everyday actions that use a reflexive in other languages do not use one in English. We simply say 'I get up', 'I sit down', 'I feel tired', 'I relax', 'I shave', 'I get dressed'. Do not add myself to these: 'I feel myself tired' is wrong; say 'I feel tired.'

Reflexives have a second, bonus use: emphasis. 'I baked this cake myself' means nobody helped me — I did it alone. 'The manager herself answered the phone' means it was really the manager, which is surprising. Also, 'by myself' means alone: 'He lives by himself.'

Reciprocal pronouns are different. 'Each other' (and the more formal 'one another') describe a two-way action between two or more people. 'They text each other every day' — she texts him and he texts her. Compare the pair: 'They looked at themselves' means each person looked at his or her own reflection; 'They looked at each other' means their eyes met. Same verb, very different picture.

1. 1. Be careful, or you will burn yourself on that pan.

   The subject you and the person burned are the same, so use yourself.

2. 2. He taught himself Spanish with a free app.

   He is both the teacher and the student, so himself is needed.

3. 3. We really enjoyed ourselves at the beach last weekend.

   Enjoy takes a reflexive when we mean we had a good time.

4. 4. The children dressed themselves before school today.

   Plural subject they-like (children) takes themselves, ending in -selves.

5. 5. Please help yourselves to some coffee and cake.

   Speaking to several people, use yourselves, not yourself.

6. 6. She introduced herself to the new neighbors.

   She gives her own name, so the action points back to her.

7. 7. The heater turns itself off after two hours.

   Things can take a reflexive too: itself matches the heater.

8. 8. My grandparents call each other twice a day.

   Each other shows a two-way action between two people.

9. 9. The players passed the ball to one another quickly.

   One another works like each other, often with groups.

10. 10. Did you hurt yourself when you fell off the bike?

    In a question, the reflexive still matches the subject you.

11. 11. I fixed the printer myself, without calling anyone.

    Here myself adds emphasis: I did it with no help.

12. 12. She prefers to travel by herself in the summer.

    By herself means alone, with nobody else.

13. 13. My coworkers and I cover for each other during holidays.

    The help goes both ways between us, so each other fits.

14. 14. Don't blame yourself; the mistake was in the system.

    In a negative command, yourself still points back to you.

The classic mistake is using a normal object pronoun when the subject and object are the same person: 'I hurt me' or 'She bought her a coffee' (meaning her own coffee). Wrong: 'I hurt me.' Right: 'I hurt myself.' English reserves me, him, her, them for other people; when the action comes back to the doer, the -self word is required.

The opposite mistake is adding a reflexive where English does not want one: 'I feel myself sick', 'He relaxed himself on the sofa', 'She gets up herself at six.' Wrong: 'I feel myself sick.' Right: 'I feel sick.' Verbs like feel, relax, sit down, get up, meet, and concentrate work alone in English. When in doubt, try the sentence without the -self word first.

Learners also confuse reflexives with reciprocals. 'They bought themselves gifts' means each person bought a gift for himself or herself. 'They bought each other gifts' means the gifts crossed between them. Wrong (if you mean an exchange): 'We wrote letters to ourselves.' Right: 'We wrote letters to each other.' Choose themselves for actions that stay with each person and each other for actions that travel between people.

• Same person doing and receiving? Use a -self word: I hurt myself, she taught herself.
• Plurals end in -selves: ourselves, yourselves, themselves — never 'theirselves' or 'ourselfs'.
• Do not add a reflexive to feel, relax, get up, sit down, or meet.
• Each other means the action goes both ways: we help each other.
• By myself means alone: he lives by himself.
• Add myself, herself, etc. after the fact for emphasis: I made it myself.