Intensive Pronoun

What is an intensive pronoun?
An intensive pronoun is a pronoun that refers back to the subject of a sentence in order to
emphasize it. For example, the pronoun himself is an intensive pronoun in the sentence The
detective himself was the culprit. The pronoun himself refers back to the subject the detective in
order to add emphasis. By using an intensive pronoun, the sentence highlights how unexpected it
is that a detective who is supposedly investigating a crime is actually the criminal. An intensive
pronoun often immediately follows the noun or pronoun it refers to, but this isn’t always the
case.
There are many different reasons why we would use intensive pronouns, such as to point out an
odd or unexpected situation or to highlight an impressive achievement.
 The prime minister herself appeared at the rally. (Nobody expected the prime minister to
be there.)
 The third-grader wrote the bestselling book themselves. (It is an impressive feat for a
young child to write a successful book.)
List of intensive pronouns

Depending on how many people an intensive pronoun refers to, it can be singular or plural. All
intensive pronouns end in either -self or -selves.
Singular intensive pronouns
An intensive pronoun is singular if it only refers to one person. Singular intensive pronouns
include:
 myself
 yourself
 herself, himself, itself
Plural intensive pronouns

An intensive pronoun is plural if it refers to more than one person or thing. The most commonly
used plural intensive pronouns are:
 ourselves
 yourselves
 themselves
Themself
The word themself is sometimes used in nonstandard English as a variant of the word themselves
or as an intensive version of the word they as a singular pronoun to neutrally refer to a person.
For example,
 The people themself wanted a democracy. (Themself is used instead of themselves.)
 The student made the project themself. (The student’s gender is unknown or not
relevant.)
However, the word themself is also used to refer to a person who identifies as nonbinary. Using
themself in this context is perfectly acceptable:
 Gale themself paid for the party.
Examples of intensive pronouns

Let’s look at some examples of intensive pronouns used in sentences.
Singular intensive pronouns
 I built this house myself.
 You need to find the answer yourself.
 It turned out that Abraham Lincoln himself had written the poem.
 The band’s singer wrote all of the songs herself.
 The mouse itself opened the door to the cage.
Plural intensive pronouns
 We will have to escape the island ourselves.
 You yourselves have the potential to accomplish anything.
 It turned out that the gardeners themselves had taken the tractor.
Intensive pronouns vs. reflexive pronouns

Intensive pronouns are identical in form to another type of pronoun known as reflexive pronouns,
which also end in -self or -selves. However, these two types of pronouns serve different
grammatical functions.
As has been said, intensive pronouns are used to emphasize a subject by repeating it:
 Gandhi himself was the author of the book. (We are emphasizing that Gandhi is the
author because it might be unexpected or newsworthy.)
Reflexive pronouns are used when the subject and object of a sentence are the same:
 Julianna introduced herself to the class. (Julianna is both the subject and the object of the
sentence: Juliana introduced Juliana.)
Proper usage
Each intensive pronoun corresponds to a personal pronoun. The intensive pronoun refers to the
same person or thing that its personal pronoun does. Each of the commonly used intensive
pronouns are listed below:
 myself: me (the speaker or the writer)
 yourself: you as a singular (another single person besides the speaker/writer)
 itself: it (a thing or an animal)
 himself: him (a male person or animal)
 herself: her (a female person or animal)
 ourselves: us (the speaker/writer and other people together)
 yourselves: you as a plural (other people besides the speaker/writer)
 themselves: them (a group of people, animals, or objects)
 themself: them as a singular (see the usage explanation above.)
How much do you know about possessive pronouns?
An intensive pronoun is not used by itself in a sentence. An intensive pronoun follows the
noun/pronoun it refers to, often immediately.
Incorrect: Himself solved the mystery. (Who?)
Correct: Dr. Watson himself solved the mystery.
Also correct: Dr. Watson solved the mystery himself.

If you are unsure which intensive pronoun to use, think about what the subject is and what
personal pronoun you would use if that subject were the object of the sentence:
 The tiny hamster ____ gathered the leaves.
We know that the tiny hamster is the subject, but we don’t know which intensive pronoun to use.
To figure this out, let’s use the tiny hamster as an object in a different sentence and see which
personal pronoun we would use.
 I fed cabbage to the tiny hamster.
 I fed cabbage to it.
Because we would use it to refer to the tiny hamster, the correct intensive pronoun to use in our
original sentence is itself:
 The tiny hamster itself gathered the leaves.
If we know what sex the hamster is, we could also use the gendered pronouns herself or himself
in this sentence as well:
 The tiny hamster herself gathered the leaves.

Intensive Pronoun

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What is an intensive pronoun?

List of intensive pronouns

Plural intensive pronouns

Examples of intensive pronouns

Intensive pronouns vs. reflexive pronouns

Incorrect: Himself solved the mystery. (Who?)

Correct: Dr. Watson himself solved the mystery.

Also correct: Dr. Watson solved the mystery himself.

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