Intensive Pronouns: Definition, Use, and Examples

Intensive pronouns are employed to refer to a noun or pronoun to more highlight on the one that is performing a certain action. They can be used as a method by which an utterance is amplified without negating it or changing its content. Intensive pronouns use the suffix ‘-self’ or ‘-selves’ and are, generally, located right after the respective noun or pronoun. Nevertheless, the sentence depends grammatically correct if the intensive pronoun is omitted from the sentence.

What is an Intensive Pronouns?

The given type of pronoun refers to the same thing as the noun to which it points or another pronoun, to make emphasis on a noun. It strengthens the identity of the subject to indicate that the subject does the action on his own.

Definition of Intensive Pronouns:

According to Hall and Hall, (2006), an Intensive Pronoun is a type of linguistic expression used in a face-threatening encounter to draw the recipient’s attention to the speaker’s presence.
An intensive pronoun is a pronoun which is formed with the addition of the suffixes “-self” or “-selves” referring to the subject in order to emphasize it. Usually it comes after the noun or the pronoun that it refers to. Intensive pronouns are also the components of a sentence which does not add information to the sentence if you omit them the sentence will still be meaningful.

Common intensive pronouns include:

• Myself
• Yourself
• Himself
• Herself
• Itself
• Ourselves
• Yourselves
• Themselves

Examples of Intensive Pronouns:

Here are some examples of how intensive pronouns are used in sentences:

• I myself made the cake.
• She herself solved the problem.
• They themselves completed the project.
• The dog itself opened the door.

In each example, the intensive pronoun emphasizes the subject without altering the sentence's meaning.

Difference between Intensive Pronouns and Reflexive Pronouns:

Although intensive pronouns and reflexive pronouns look the same, they serve different purposes:

Intensive pronouns are the next kind of pronouns which are used intensively. Taking them away does not alter the meaning of the sentence which has been formed by the given sentence.

Example: She herself cleaned the house. (Even if you remove ‘herself’; the sentence will remain complete: She cleaned the house.)

Reflexive pronouns are necessary when the object of the verb being used is the same with the subject since it bounces back to the subject.

Example: She cleaned the house herself.(Here the use of ‘herself’ is appropriate because explains who cleaned the house. )

All in all, the major difference can be said to lie in the fact that intensive pronouns express emphasis, while reflexive pronouns also suggest that the subject is both the actor and the object.