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How were your holidays? Did you all enjoy yourselves? I enjoyed myself. My children enjoyed themselves too! They got a new karaoke machine for Christmas. My daughter always sings to herself in the shower, so my husband thought it would be a fun idea to buy her some microphones and a singing machine. Now he is kicking himself. I myself thought it was a good idea for a gift. I never thought about how loud it might be to have a karaoke machine in the basement. We have no one to blame but ourselves. 

Did you notice a pattern in the paragraph above? I used a series of "reflexive pronouns". Reflexive pronouns can be tricky. There are some common errors you need to avoid. I sometimes see MyEC bloggers using reflexive pronouns incorrectly. Please join this month's Writing Challenge. We're going to practise using reflexive pronouns.

Your Task

1) Review EnglishClub's lesson plage on Reflexive Pronouns. Higher level learners can keep reading about Intensive Pronouns on the same page.  Keep in mind a few common errors that English learners make: 

• George and myself I are going for a jog. (If you take "George" out of the sentence, it doesn't make sense. You wouldn't say, "Myself is going for a jog." This is a good way to check whether I, me, or myself is the right word choice.)
• The workers paid for the tickets theirselves  themselves. (Theirselves is not a word. The word you need is "themselves".)   

2) Create a new blog post. Use the title: Writing Challenge - Reflexive Pronouns

3) Write a paragraph about your family and/or friends in 2012 like I did above. You could also write your paragraph about MyEC members, and your experience on MyEC. Try to use at least 5 reflexive pronouns in your paragraph. Use as many as you can (singular and plural). You might want to add a few sentences about your plans for 2013.

4) (Optional) Do you understand how to use intensive pronouns? Try adding a few intensive pronouns. Check your work by removing the pronoun. Does it still make sense? Remember that intensive pronouns are only used for emphasis. They are not a necessary part of the sentence. Use red font to show the intensive pronoun(s) in your paragraph. 

Example: I took that picture myself. = I took that picture. 

5) Leave a comment here with a link to your post! I'll check it and let you know if you need to make some corrections. 

*Please don't skip the step of learning how to use Reflexive Pronouns properly. This page is very useful! 

Here are some useful example sentences: 

• I treated myself to a cup of tea at the mall. 
• I frowned at myself in the mirror. 
• It's good that he can laugh at himself.
• We questioned ourselves about the decision.
• The cat licked itself clean. 
• She taught herself how to handwrite. 
• The father himself was the thief. 
• Did you hurt yourself?
• I dressed quickly and went to work. [Note: We don't use "dressed myself" because it's obvious. You can use a reflexive pronoun with the word "dress" if it's about a child: The toddler dressed herself today! In English, the verbs "shave" and "wash" also don't require a reflexive pronoun.]