myself, yourself

A reflexive pronoun is the object when the person who does the action is the same person it happens to.

Compare: She looked at her (another woman) and She looked at herself (the same woman).

Enjoy yourself, help yourself

Some fixed phrases take a reflexive pronoun.

By myself

By myself, by yourself and so on mean "alone" or "without help". On my own means the same.

Doing it yourself

A reflexive pronoun after the object, or at the end, says that this person did it and nobody else.

Myself or each other

Each other means that two people do the action to the other one.

Common mistakes

Many everyday verbs take no reflexive pronoun: wash, dress, shave, relax, feel, meet.

• × I relaxed myself on the sofa. → I relaxed on the sofa.
• × I feel myself tired. → I feel tired.
• × He hurt hisself. → He hurt himself.
• × They did it theirselves. → They did it themselves.