Pronouns are used to replace a noun, noun phrase, or noun clause in a sentence. For example, "David is a good boy. He always obeys his parents." In this example, the noun 'David' has been replaced by the pronoun 'he', which also helps avoid repetition, and eases the flow of language. Pronouns are classified into several types as: » Demonstrative » Indefinite » Interrogative » Intensive » Personal » Possessive » Reciprocal » Reflexive » Relative Reflexive pronouns are those which are used to refer to the subject in the sentence or clause i.e., to turn the action performed by the subject back to it. They usually end with either "self" (singular) or "selves" (plural). They are used to show that the object is same as the subject. Without a reflexive pronoun, a sentence will not convey the right message. For example, "Cindy poured her a glass of wine" will sound like Cindy poured someone else a glass of wine. However, if we use a reflexive pronoun in the sentence as "Cindy poured herself a glass of wine", it will refer to the subject of the sentence, Cindy. Identifying reflexive pronouns is very easy. When the subject is doing something to someone else, it is NOT a reflexive pronoun. For example, "The dog is playing with it". This shows that the dog is playing with something else. However, "The dog is playing with itself" shows that the dog is playing with itself. » Jimmy bathes himself. (Jimmy bathes Jimmy.) » Diana is talking to herself. (Diana is talking to Diana.) » The Smiths love themselves. (The Smiths love The Smiths.) One can often get confused between the usage of reflexive and intensive pronouns, since they are the same. Intensive pronouns also include myself, yourself, herself, himself, yourselves, ourselves, themselves. However, the usage of intensive pronouns is different from that of reflexive pronouns. They always emphasize the subject (or antecedent) of the sentence, and are placed right next to them. For example: » I myself am very shocked. » We ourselves painted the house. » The author herself signed the book for me. Reflexive pronouns are not generally needed after verbs that describe actions that people generally do for themselves. For example, bathing, shaving, dressing. However, they can be used to generate emphasis. For example, "He is only three, but he dresses himself." Reflexive pronouns are generally used with amuse, blame, cut, help, hurt, enjoy, kill, introduce, teach, satisfy, and prepare.