A simple sentence is composed of three parts: the subject – the verb – the object. When the subject and the object are the same thing, then you need to use a reflexive pronoun. Here is an example of a simple sentence. John looked at the mirror. In this sentence, “John” is the subject, “looked” is the verb and “mirror” is the object. The subject and the object are two different things so a reflexive pronoun is not needed. Now let’s change the sentence up a bit. John looked at himself in the mirror. In this sentence “John” is the subject, “looked” is the verb and “himself” is the object. The... Show more

A simple sentence is composed of three parts: the subject – the verb – the object. When the subject and the object are the same thing, then you need to use a reflexive pronoun.

Here is an example of a simple sentence. John looked at the mirror.

In this sentence, “John” is the subject, “looked” is the verb and “mirror” is the object. The subject and the object are two different things so a reflexive pronoun is not needed.

Now let’s change the sentence up a bit. John looked at himself in the mirror. In this sentence “John” is the subject, “looked” is the verb and “himself” is the object. The mirror is not the object because John was not looking at it. Since the subject and the object are the same thing, i.e., John, the reflexive pronoun “himself” is used.

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